Forever in Destiny
by Shitza
Summary: Once you have read, can you see the world as it is? Is everything that it seems, or are there more? This is a discovery beyond anything and only one human will live it. Takouji DISCONTINUED
1. The Beginning

_This fic, is inpspired by Lady Lemonade's Garden at Eve, and if you haven't read that yet, then you have really missed a good Takouji story. _

_Anyway, my fic will not copy, all though it would seem so at some points. Anyway, I hope you will enjoy, this is a pure Takouji fic... I am not changing that pairing..._

_If you have time and are really nice, please review! If you want to flame then review as well, and I hope I can be understanding and not evil back. The updates will come... irregular. This fic will probably have my slowest updates ever, but that is a quality thing. But i really wanted to try something special, all though I am writing very much Digimon at the moment. What have I done!_

_Shitza_

**Forever in Destiny**

**Chapter 1  
The Beginning**

Did you know, that far beyond this world, far beyond the stars you can see, there is another community of weird creatures. Did you believe in dragons and did you think they have ever existed? Have you ever heard about the imaginary creatures that really do exist, such as vampires, trolls, demons and mermaids? Have you ever seen the unknown creatures? The winged Aquilas, the big and kind Raiki, the cold and small MistHimi or for the fact about the undying ghosts that looks alive, except they still don't possess a body of their own. What if all these strange creatures gathered in one place, on a sole island. Under the third star at the Ishida Galaxy. And what if, some of these creatures one day appear on top of your roof?

Do you believe in ghosts?

Do you believe in vampires?

Do you believe that there are creatures with wings that aren't animals but more related to fairies?

Have you ever seen the lonesome Raiki, a distant relation to demons, but in one way not as mischievous and evil.

Where did things like the Atlantis go, and where did the people disappear to?

Takuya Kanbara was nine when it all happened, and his life suddenly changed. His life, upon Earth, was by that time, not nice. His mother yelled at him, his father beat him and his brother never cared about him. Most of his days, he spent in his room, locked away from everything else. many days he would lie in his bed, dreaming about shadowy creatures with wings, claws and sharp fangs. In his mind, these creatures were his friends.

Takuya didn't believe that these dreams would become real, they were all just fantasies, so one day, when he was nine, it came as a big shock to find out he had not only been dreaming. His parents had been working and his brother had disappeared to some friends. What did not surprise him more then to suddenly here a crash on the roof, and seconds later something came through the roof and landed on top of his bed, were he was lying. Whatever had landed upon his bed, he had shoulder length black hair that shifted slightly to blue. Blue eyes and a pale skin. he wore an emerald green tunic and loose black pants. He presented himself as Kimura Kouichi, a ghost as Takuya would put it, but still not. Kouichi did not have a body as he had died two hundred years ago, or something, but he still could touch, smell and eat. The problem was that food would go through him, but he still could taste.

When his family would be home, Kouichi stayed in the dusty attic. But when his parents were out and Shinya would be gone, he returned to talk with the brunette. he always told stories, of his world called Nemorisa, or Monster City. It was a place for ghosts, ghouls and every foul creature that existed. He would tell him about his life there, about his friends. He had some weird friends, as ghosts wasn't specified as their own race as anyone could become a ghost after death. he told him about his friendship with The Ice folk, Wind people and the lonesome and big Raiki. He most often spoke of his family, for Kouichi knew he had once lived upon Earth, but due to his death disappeared to live upon Nemorisa for good. That if, he would be able to return.

But no matter how many hours Kouichi would spent to think about things, he did not understand how he would be able to get home, so for three years he stayed under Takuya's roof. the brunette didn't mind. Takuya had never been allowed to go to school as his parents didn't care about him anymore. He didn't have any friends, except for Kouichi. Kouichi knew this and therefor he stayed, even if he hoped upon getting home one day he swore to bring Takuya with him. They had discussed this before, and if he would be able to, for Nemorisa had one simple rule about these matters.

Humans were strictly forbidden at any cost. A rule that had been made up after the witch burning where witches being on holiday upon Earth, had been brutally killed for centuries just because some humans had in exchange seen the terror and magic upon Nemorisa.

Still, Kouichi hoped he would be able to bend the rules. His father had a his post in politics and his mother was best friend with the Queen of the city. Maybe he could bend the rules, but he somehow knew he would never be able to do so. His father was strict and his mother was not to count on. But he wanted to help, no matter what, even if the ghost community would turn him upside down for the rest of his life, meaning forever.

It started to go to late at night, and Takuya's parents were gone for tonight. The rest of the Kanbara family had gone to a weekend holiday, ignoring to bring their oldest son with them. It wasn't like Takuya cared anyway, at least he could spend more time with Kouichi. The ghost and human enjoyed themselves by playing games in the living room and watching TV. Kouichi especially enjoyed, to the brunette's dislike, to watch opera. It was probably since Kouichi was several years older and her grown up during the time of music and art. But still. There was always a fight going on between the two of them about the remote control.

As yet another of these fights broke out, meaning Kouichi had pinned Takuya down by a fierce tickle attack. Takuya could not do much against Kouichi since his hands went through, yet Kouichi could do anything as long as he wanted it to. A shadow moved around the house. Kouichi suddenly sat up, feeling something was approaching. He did not really know what. It was the presence of something having entering his area. The ghost stood up and walked over to the window, sticking his head outside.

Suddenly something yanked him out.

Takuya was utmost alarmed when his friend suddenly disappeared through the window. The brunette hurried to the door, but stopped hearing voices outside.

"I never thought you would come, what took you so long?" Kouichi said sounding unusually happy.

"Like it matters, hurry up we have to leave. I don't want to stay here upon this rotting place anyway." a new voice said. This voice sounded a little more stern and serious then Kouichi's normally happy one.

"Leave, hold on second Kouji. We cannot leave yet. Look, there is one thing..."

"What, what have you don this time Kouichi?" The other voice asked, probably belonging to this Kouji, whoever it was.

"It is just... I made a promise to a person to follow us back. He's..."

"Then you will have to break that promise, unless you want to face our father when we get back. And believe me, after all this time looking for you, he will be even more upset and probably report you to your community. I've never heard of anything so pathetic!" this other, Kouji said. Kouichi sighed outside, he could actually hear it from inside.

"Pathetic!" Kouichi said in shock. "I know what I will call pathetic, if I told father were you went for your last holiday. Oh, what was it again, a trip to the MistHimi mountain. Spending his time with the fair folk, Kouji, you are a vampire! I heard you got some fair warnings from your own community."

"Knock it off!"

"I don't think so. Kouji, your little scary attitude doesn't affect me when I know you are very soft for being what you are. So don't come saying how a ghost should be!"

Takuya laughed, trying to soften it with his hand, but he failed awfully. Outside he could hear this... vampire, whose name seemed to be Kouji, moving towards the door. Takuya wasn't scared. Kouichi had told him dozens of times about the different people and being as adventurous as he was he didn't freak like normal people would.

The door yanked open and a pale teen, the mirror of Kouichi, stared at him. The only real difference between the ghost and this vampire was Kouji's fangs and his longer hair. He also wore different clothes. A black long-sleeved shirt, black pants with a blood red belt. And a black cloak that slightly shifted into blue. Kouji glared at him and Takuya didn't know exactly what to say.

"You mean this human, don't you?" he said to what Takuya obviously knew now, twin brother. You did not find the same similarities in other ways."You know it is not nice to eavesdrop." he said to Takuya, who stood rooted to the spot. Not for being scared, but he surely had not expected this.

"Kouji, lay off!" Kouichi said warningly from behind.

"Or you'd do what? Kill me? We are both dead brother, and it is not really like you would kill me, really." the vampire said, not taking his eyes from Takuya.

"I hope you have fed brother, I am not offering my friends for meal." Kouichi said moving between the small space between Kouji and Takuya. The vampire however smiled, his fangs sticking out between his lips.

"You have a really good taste brother!" he said eying Takuya from top to toe. Kouichi was slightly taken by shock before the vampire pushed his brother jokingly inside. Kouichi soared a few meters inside, through Takuya and landed on the floor. Takuya stepped back and let the vampire in, wondering what in the world was going on. "I can see why you spent three years in this rotten world, with such a delicious desert beside you."

"You little..." Kouichi began, not sure of what to use for words.

Kouji laughed as he attacked his brother. Compared to Takuya, Kouichi's brother could not pass through his brother seeing he was dead as well. Takuya closed the door behind him and sighed as the two brothers started to talk rather loudly. The brunette sat down in an armchair and fell asleep. How he could sleep in this noise however, was a mystery to them all.

He didn't get to sleep for long however. Kouji and Kouichi soon noticed the lack of audience and Takuya was woken up by a warm hand shaking him. he opened his eyes to see Kouji bent over him. This confused the brunette even more, for what Kouichi had told him, all vampires were cold.

Kouichi noticed his friends confused expression. "Oh, my dear little brother stands out. He is a Light vampire, stands out from the usual dark ones. He doesn't need to fear the sun like the normal kind you have heard stories about." he explained.

Takuya nodded slowly. Indeed compared to Kouichi, his brother seemed to have a slightly more tan then the older twin. Which he probably only could have received from having been outside in the sun. Kouichi was dead and Takuya suspected nothing changed him because of that.

Kouichi lay upon the sofa, and Kouji had moved away to lean to the wall. Takuya, now having been roughly awoken yawned and stretched. Kouji eyes the human with interest. he hadn't seen one for years to say.

Takuya tried to ignore the vampire, but no matter where he stood it seemed as if Kouji's eyes followed him. But every time Takuya looked at him Kouji would look away. The twelve year-old boy sighed.

That is how it all started. As his home suddenly became a resting place for all sorts of creatures. Mind you, Kouji stayed with his brother until the day Kouichi would agree to come home. But as far as it looked it took years. Kouichi stayed and thus Kouji never left. Takuya had received another friend, even though Kouji didn't open his mouth as frequently as Kouichi. The vampire preferred to stay quiet.

For five whole years he had known Kouji. he had known Kouichi for eight years, almost half his life. He still had a miserable life, but he knew he could survive it because he had friends. Weird friends, but they were still friends.

This is were the start of our story begins...

* * *

"Takuya! Takuya! You rotten damn child, where are you!" a female voice yelled making the roof fly. her cries however were meaningless as her oldest son wasn't home for the moment. Takuya had taken a walk to the park with Kouichi and Kouji following him. Kouichi had fun, since the ghost more choose which people that would see him. And to say, Kouichi could be annoying from time to time. Many of the picnic groups discovered this.

Kouji was silent and kept his eyes to the ground. it was a really warm day and even though the vampire didn't have to fear the sun, he still didn't like the light. Takuya hummed under his breath. It was a beautiful summer day and it brought a lot of fun with it. At least for Takuya. He was outside, the sun was shining. his family was no near to beat him today. Life seemed for once, perfect!

Kouichi laughed having stolen the picnic from a lovesick pair. Kouji eyes his brother wondering what the older ghost twin was thinking. But he should have known. The older twin soon found a more quiet spot to rest, hidden behind thick trees and stones. The three of them sat down on the grass and relaxed. Kouichi and Takuya helped themselves, this wasn't the first time Kouichi had stolen food from somewhere else.

Kouji did not join in, all though he felt disgusted watching the two of them, especially his own brother. Being a ghost the food went through and landed on the grass. Kouji sighed before walking off to find his own meal. He surely did, a few mice and a nice nest of birds. Kouji did not have to feed on human if he didn't need to. All though human blood tasted a little better then animal blood, but he knew Takuya would be disgusted if he returned wiping human blood from his mouth. The human had, in his opinion, some weird manners.

Kouji eagerly dipped his fangs into the creatures licking the blood from them. His mind went back to his own world and for a brief moment something clicked to his mind. It had been years ever since he had been home. He was meant to go and fetch his brother, but seeing as it was, Kouichi would not leave, maybe not for all eternity. A few ghosts had stayed upon this world since the found their ways. The White Lady haunted several towers and old castles, the headless masters roamed the graveyards and don't forget about the endless amount of myths based upon ghosts, or really all sorts of creatures. Count Dracula, Bigfoot, who happened to be a decedent to the MistHimi, angels that were really just Aquilas on vacation... the list seemed to be endless.

Kouji shrugged and decided to head back. Kouichi was having fun with the mortal human and seemed to be making Takuya go mad. Still, the brunette was laughing which made Kouji smile watching them. Now why would he do that? Through his life he never cared about being happy. His brother was the hyper one of them. Kouji was the steel warrior in their family, to take after their dead father's honor. How could one human affect him like that? It made no sense. The only time he even allowed himself to laugh it would be to torture his dead brother.

Kouichi was tickling Takuya in a merciless fight. Takuya lay on the ground, laughing madly. The ghost laughed and didn't go away. Not until he felt someone drag him up.

"Kouji, that is so unfair!" he complained trying to fight his brother. Kouji smiled, something he only did when he was alone or when he was teasing his brother. Kouichi fought the best he could, but could not escape. Takuya sat watching them, laughing loudly.

It didn't seem to have been so long ago they had left the house, but suddenly Kouichi nudged the brunette to go home. Takuya looked at his, half broken watch and sighed. Kouichi was right. It had been hours since the left the house and if he would be any more late his father would lock him up again. The three of them walked back to the house. Takuya tried to keep his mood up, but the way home was always long for him. Sometimes he only wished that the sun would never go down.

Back home his father did indeed hit him before he was sent to bed, without any dinner. Takuya moaned as he walked to his room, with aching steps. Kouichi and Kouji had taken the window way, like they usually did whenever they got home, but to his surprise the two of them had sneaked down to his room. Kouichi floated towards the bathroom to get some bandages and lotions for all the new bruises and cuts. Takuya had been beaten by his father's belt. The ghost helped the brunette to clean most of the wounds. Takuya removed his shirt, only to reveal dozens of scars and bruises he had received. Kouji looked away, the sight nearly made him vomit. It was disgusting, even for a vampire, to see a human beaten this badly. Vampires most often had another way to approach their prey, but they never used physical fighting to achieve their goal.

Takuya thanked the ghost before pulling back his shirt. Kouji was allowed to look again as the brunette lay down upon his bed, to soon fall asleep. Kouichi shrugged and went back to the attic, to find something to do. Kouji stayed for a few moments.

His hand went to touch Takuya's soft hair, his cheek and then his mouth. For the five years he had stayed in this world, the vampire still had not left. Even if he would hate to admit it by himself, there was something about the brunette that... well... it was something special about him. Kouji did not know how to explain this... feeling... this fullness he felt. Even if he rarely spoke many words with him, Kouichi did most of the talking anyway. Kouji put a finger on the brunette's lips, feeling how soft they were. His finger tingled and he quickly removed it, feeling a warm blush appear on his cheeks. He was happy that the brunette was asleep. Kouichi had put a sleeping spell on his so he would not have to worry about him waking up.

Kouji bent forward slightly, feeling Takuya's calm breath upon his face. The space between them seemed to disappear for every second and a new world seemed to open for the vampire. But the vampire stopped, getting caught in his own action. Startled he moved away and headed out to the night. What was happening to him? What was going on?

Inside Takuya slept peacefully, not knowing what was close upon happening. A star fell up in the night sky. A wish for the silent prayers.

* * *

And thus, the days continued for him. For some unknown reason, the beatings got worse and worse. Takuya did not know why at first, until he saw the bottles of strong alcoholic drinks in the dustbins all over the house. he tried to flee, but never could. Some days he could not move because his back hurt as it did. He could not run, where would he go? The pain would simply go on.

It was September and the brunette was close upon giving up. He had stolen a razor from his father and proceeded by taking his life. The blade cut through his skin, blood flowing from it. A sign of relief fell upon the dying teen. He had not counted however, that there were some, who did not want to see him dead.

It had almost been to late for the two of them. But the smell of his blood could not be mistaken. Vampires mostly recognized others by their smell of blood. Most often it was faint, but to Kouji's surprise a wave suddenly erupted filling his nostrils. He and his brother hurried to find Takuya on the brim of darkness.

It lay no laws around humans and help, all though most creatures, for example the witches, had warned everyone for doing it. But the two twins knew if they did not do anything then Takuya would be dead before long. Kouichi put the teen into a sleeping spell while Kouji moved Takuya's wrists to his mouth.

As well as the intention to kill, Light vampires could heal if there was need for. Kouji put the wrist to his mouth and flicked his tongue over the cut. This time it was no thinking about manners or what would be right or wrong. The cut healed and he did that same with the other wrist. Thankfully they had arrived before anything bad had really happened. The two of them nodded towards each other thinking the same.

The brunette would not be able to stay...

Even though, they would break a hundred laws...

They would need to...

Take him with them...

Kouji put the sleeping teen to his back. Kouichi nodded and two beams shot down at them. It was the transport Kouji had ordered for them, to their journey home. A journey that had been delayed for several years.

The sounds of roars, the screaming banshee, the gurgling from monsters that had been untold. A kitsune fox jumped from tree to tree, an Aquila with long blond hair flew through the night. Snow clashed with fire in a fearful fight.

They were home again...

_TBC_


	2. Nemorisa

**Chapter 2  
Nemorisa**

Could you think of something worse? I wonder if you know what I am talking about? The disgrace, the fear and the horror. The laws of the undying world that lay under the third star of the Galaxy Ishida. The worst nightmare that was told as horror stories for the small kid kitsunes and the shy Animagus. They were stories that would make the elves flee and the brave dragons hide. Humans, they knew so little about them. What were a human? Going on holiday, you left in a shape similar to them, and traveling to that world was easy, as the witches and wizards had developed small gadgets that would take you to that world.

To break the first law, to never bring a human into this world, what punishments where they? No one knew, no one had dared to break them in fear. Not even the ghost did anything like that, they would probably be tortured down in the deepest hell the communities would be able to find. A human, what horror...

Why would you need to know about this? Why, really? Maybe to see, that more things will occur and more laws will be broken then ever before seen in history. Maybe you need to know, to get a feeling of knowing what is about to come. Because now, for the first time ever, these laws would have to be broken. The first step Takuya took would break the greatest law in their world.

The fog lay thick over the city, and only a few animagus and werewolves patrolled the streets. For Kouji and Kouichi it was dangerous just to approach the place. Takuya still hung over Kouji's back, still asleep. The brunette would not know. The ghost sneaked away, to keep an eye on things. The vampire, the creature even creatures of this world still dreamed nightmares about, swiped away with his burden on his back. He was happy it was still night. Werewolves would surely try to avoid him and as for the animagus, the very same. No vampire had been greeted warmly, ever... Well, almost none, for Kouji had friends from other communities, many thanks to his ghost of brother.

The lights on the streets, poles with flames burning on top, was not enough to reveal his presence. Only his scent would, but he could more easily smell what was happening around him and avoid being seen at any cost. His home, a small castle, lay outside the City. It was built upon a cloud that was said to have been given by the gods. Kouji and Kouichi came from a wealthy family. The two brother had lived their as long as they could remember. They also stayed young, agening bodies only gave trouble. Well, as Kouichi was a ghost he could choose really how old he would look. His brother once had been a vampire, but many years ago he had accidentally walked out into the light and thus so burned to death. Kouichi had been a dark vampire, therefor he had been vulnerable to light, so unlike his twin. But he had been able to return, gambling with the God of the Death Gate. he had returned in the shape of a ghost.

About an hour later they appeared outside the city, and hurried towards the location of the castle. Kouichi soared upwards when he spotted home. Kouji would have some more problems. Normally when he returned he would transform into a bat and fly. But this time he had a passenger. Sighing he did what you could call half transformation, somewhere between the stage of bat and vampire. His fangs grew longer and black batlike wings appeared on his back. The raven-haired vampire carefully picked up the sleeping human and soared upwards.

He landed, moments later, on a balcony that lead to the spare bedroom. Thanking the Gods he walked inside, still carrying Takuya protectively. He placed the sleeping teen on the bed, lit a few candles for light before closing the door with a click. He hated locked doors, but neither him nor Kouichi could risk having the brunette walking around their home. Their father had passed away when the two twins were around fifty years old and their mother had died some few years ago, it was she who had sent her youngest son to go looking for the ghost. But nothing would or could stop the workers from spotting him and he knew some of these could not be trusted.

The sun slowly rose over the undying world of ghosts, dragons, fairies, elves and other foul creatures known and unknown. As it had been a long night for the two of them Kouji turned in over the day, falling asleep on a giant queen sized bed. His brother returned to haunt the dungeons, something he used to have done before he had disappeared to say. Takuya continued sleeping, not knowing what had happened to him. The brunette would receive a shock in the morning. Well, wouldn't you if you think about waking up in the middle of a horror movie?

* * *

Someone was banging on his door and sleepily he turned over, ignoring it. It was probably just Shinya saying breakfast was ready, like he would mind. For the last couple of years they had given him nothing more then a carrot to chew on whenever he turned up. They had hoped upon starving him, so they could get rid of him easily. His family weren't murderers, but it would probably be just a matter of time before...

The door banged louder and louder. Not able to ignore Takuya sat up, flinching at the pain of moving again. his muscles ached and his head kept spinning. It too a moment for him to start focusing upon things again. And when he was able to see properly again he nearly fell down from the bed. He wasn't home anymore, but how? Slowly the pictures formed back into his memories. Most of the pictures was Kouji and Kouichi talking. They had brought him here, saved him from dying. But where were he?

The door opened and Takuya caught the sight of someone wearing a long dress entering. he yelped believing a woman would enter. But this was no ordinary woman. To his astonishment she didn't seem to have a head. She was headless, and to replace whatever head she must have had once, was a pumpkin, carved to assemble one of those pumpkins you see at Halloween. The woman carried a tray in her hands and put it down beside his bed, on a small round table made of oak. She was obviously deaf as she didn't seem to react to anything Takuya said. And by judging how carefully she walked, holding her hand against the wall to make sure she knew where in the room she was, blind. Mute as well, she did not utter a word. It probably came with the fact she did not have a head.

"Thanks!" Takuya said, knowing she would not hear but he could be polite. The brunette threw of the covers of the bed and walked over to see whatever had been served. To his stomach's pleasure it was piles of sandwiches, buns, cakes, pancakes, fruit, roasted colorful fishes, rainbow colored cream, bubbling stews, various unusual drinks and a lot more he could not name even if he would try to. but he was too hungry to think and started to taste a bit of everything. The food would probably have fed fifty people at least, or in this case, one starving teenager.

While he was eating he did not notice that the door opened and Kouji walked in. The vampire smiled seeing the starved human eating and sat down on the bed to watch. At first Takuya did not notice Kouji's presence, but moments later he stopped seeing the vampire on his bed, his face now expressionless.

Takuya put down his fork, looking over at Kouji. He did not know why, but he felt like he was dragged towards the vampire. Kouji sighed and shook his head. Takuya eyed the vampire and once more continued on his meal, making the vampire smile as the food had also been enchanted to give back some of the lost blood and strength to the brunette.

"Where's Kouichi?" Takuya asked after minutes of silence. The silence was unnerving and the vampire didn't do anything to help really. Kouji walked away from the bed to a large window.

"Down in the dungeons, scaring away the rats as usual,I can presume!" he answered examining the dusty glass. Takuya nodded, drumming his fingers to the table.

The question burned in his mind, but he did not know how to ask it. His mind was overwhelmed by the fact he was not home, and he had no idea where he was.

Kouji seemed to be able to read his mind and answered. "After you tried to foolishly kill yourself, me and my brother decided that it would be better if you disappeared from that place you lived in and come to stay with us. Yes Takuya, you have arrived in Nemorisa, or the outer borders of the Monster City. Why did you do it? Try to kill yourself?"

Takuya sighed. "I just wanted the pain to end."

"And by killing yourself, it would turn out for the better?" Kouji asked.

Takuya stared at the vampire. Kouji wore a cloak over his shoulders and his hands wore leather fingerless gloves, black pants and a white shirt, which seemed to be the only thing that wasn't black around him.

"Takuya, the world of the dead is not a place for you, at least not for many years. Ask my brother about it, he's a ghost and he can tell you."

"Why do you care? You never seemed to care about me way back on Earth?" Takuya said complaining.

Before the brunette knew it Kouji had disappeared from his spot by the window and sat opposite of him, their eyes in level which each other.

"I have my reasons!" the vampire said in a low voice. "And while you are here, for your own good, it will be best if you obey my commands. And don't try to kill yourself again!"

"Huh?"

"Kouichi would kill me if I let you do so. Besides, I hate the sight of humans who torture themselves."

Takuya sighed and Kouji walked out again, locking the door as he did. It would be a long dreadful and quiet day! Or so, the brunette believed.

* * *

Nemorisa, the community of ghosts, vampires, dragons, kitsune foxes and all creatures that has ever existed, except for humans that is, a city filled with life and death, were the murder on the street would not be anything new or special. Indeed if you murdered an elf, sure, why not murder two. It was not the nicest place, but hey, it was survival and they, were monsters.

Here, were the higher society ruled over the tiniest grain of sand, here where the news spread. The Office of Alien-Attacks had located something weird and mysterious entering the borders. It had detected... human blood!"

The streets were crowded, but not of the usual street gangs or gambling witches. No, today the streets were filled with sniffing animagus and werewolves trying to locate this new intruder. The latest news came. Someone, two of the Nemorisa inhabitants, had helped this human over the border to this world. The werewolves had been able to sniff out vampire scent a well as ghost scent over the human trail and now followed it in herds. Things did not look good.

In the castle Kouji and Kouichi had reappeared in Takuya's room and the news made them more and more anxious. They had not counted upon scent, which was stupid as all experienced werewolves could locate the scent of humans. Two more ghosts, friends to Kouichi, sat in the room with them. The two ghosts, twins as well, were not afraid of humans, in fact, it had been them to bring the news to the castle. Their name was Ai and Mako.

Can you guess what happens when the werewolves finds the source of the scent? Do you know how deeply in trouble they had gotten? I'll say, I've never seen a worse kind of stew. Ai and Mako, some years younger then Kouji and Kouichi, quickly floated to the gates to meet the arrivals. Kouji looked at Kouichi who looked as scared as he felt. But the vampire didn't say anything. A plan slowly formed in his mind.

"Kouichi, do you remember us going to THAT chamber, when we were younger?" he asked.

His brother, who had been busy playing with some rattling chains stopped in his tracks. "What are you thinking off?" he asked dropping the chains to the ground.

"Do you remember that strange jewel mother almost freaked seeing us play around with?"

"Yeah, how come?" Kouichi asked.

"Well, a few years ago I found out that that jewel was a teleport to the Aquila mountain. I think..."

Kouichi suddenly crossed his arms and shook his head. "No, no way, over my dead body!" the ghost said forgetting the fact ghosts didn't own a body. His lay buried on the family graveyard, the little pile of ash that was left of it.

"Then fine with me, if you want the ghosts to throw you down to the bottomless pit together with a hungry soul collector. Most vampires still tries to find a way to kill me as light doesn't. And what about Takuya here, surely they will not let him become a ghost if he survives here. They will probably throw him to a mad Raiki if they are nice enough. That monster will probably tear our friend here to slices."

Kouichi's eyes grew wide as the hard truth hit him. "F-fine, l-lets go!" he said.

Kouji smiled victoriously. "Exactly my point. Come on, we need to get down to that chamber!"

The three of them, a ghost, a vampire and a confused and scared human, hurried down the corridors, knocking over workers as they went They could hear, it echoed in the halls, Ai and Mako's tries to calm the werewolves and animagus that had arrived. The gates had burst open and the chase was on.

Takuya stumbled trying to keep up with the twins, who could move unnaturally fast. Kouichi saw he was lacking behind and said something to his brother. Kouji nodded, waited for Takuya before grabbing his hand. The brunette felt himself being tugged along, his hands not touching the floor anymore. His hand tingled slightly by the touch of Kouji's hand on his. Whatever Kouji did, he had taken Takuya with him. In a matter of minutes they reached a smaller chamber. Takuya stumbled being back on the floor while Kouichi barred the door.

The room was quite messy and dusty and Takuya coughed as the dust entered his throat. Kouji was moving around in the mess, trying to find something. Kouichi listened nervously to the sounds outside. "They are coming."

Kouji was sweating and he was as anxious as his brother. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks and took up a blue jewel at the size of child's hand.

Kouichi tugged on Takuya seeing his brother having found the treasure. The ghost put his and Takuya's hands on the jewel. Kouji closed his eyes, thinking a silent prayer to the jewel. The jewel started to glow, surrounding them with light. Moments later the door burst open and a pack o werewolves entered the chamber.

"Caught you, now you will have to answer to us!"

But to all of their surprise, there was nothing there except for dirt, dust and piles of wrecked furniture.

_TBC_


	3. The Aquila

_I have one important thing to say before you start reading. The first part here is based upon this author's incredible twisted mind when it comes to writing. So, if anyone feels to flame me, then do so but know this. There exists no such thing as Aquilas, unless you really want to find the Galaxy Ishida, but like my Latin teacher would say, Angels, or Angelus, is a complete different thing from what this fic describes. _

**Chapter Three**

**The Aquila**

Angels... there have been many descriptions. One of these are human like creatures with wings on their backs and a Gloria around their head. Exclude the Gloria, can you find yourself to the truth? What can angels be, for those who have seen one. May it be that the holy spirits rest in heaven, but angels upon earth, not sent by God. What where they?

Nemorisa, the Monster world and Monster City, the specific community for all weird and inhuman creatures. Only a few creatures have never made it to this world, for example the Sea Monsters of various lakes, e.g Nessie from the Scotland's Loch. Or the nightmare that constantly haunts your sleep. Of course, not everyone could be watched and sometimes there was no need. The Sea Creatures are really friendly as long as you don't upset them and the nightmares can be chased away, they are harmless.

For every creature there are certain rules, some that even stands for every creature. One says you should not interfere with the mortal humans. Another says, you should not show yourself in front of the mortal humans. Of course, the last one was so rarely followed the consequences for it had simmered into nothing. These days humans could see ghosts in their houses, the vampires never hid anymore, people thought of them as strange folks. The witches had never really gone into hiding, as you can see upon records from the Medieval centuries. Biggest mistake they ever did.

Of course some communities still kept to the laws, one being the very winged Aquilas. Now you may really wonder, what is this Aquila, for kind of creature?

I am not going to refer to all the history, just some short facts. For indeed, these creatures were creatures of peace as well as war. They fought for peace, thus they always ended up in some kind of problem. Indeed, the main rules all circled around the goal of peace between all the communities

The rulers of the Aquila was a council of eight females and the Head Man. The eight females were all unmarried or widows. No female Aquila was allowed into the council unless she was single. The idea came that the holy spirits would easier find themselves into a woman without distracted thoughts about a family then a female who concentrated upon the outer life instead of what the spirits tried to tell her.

Another thing to notice about the Aquilas, except for the fact that they lived on the tallest mountain found in this world, they also very easily fell in love, and if they fell in love they could not devote themselves to another unless the person died.

And why all this interesting fact, or boring fact? Well, our dear friends will get a very wonderful landing. Right in the middle of yet another mess. Two of the females stood guarding the western borders when unknown objects dropped from the sky. The two angel like creatures flew over, spears pointed at what they though was another enemy.

Kouichi was the only one who did not have to suffer the landing, and by seeing him the two Aquilas blinked stupidly. They did not remove the spears from the spot Kouji and Takuya had fallen, a pile of earth. They kept their eyes to the sky, looking at Kouichi.

Kouichi sighed. "Yeah, it's me! Happy to see me?" he asked.

The females blinked. One of them had auburn hair and blue eyes. She was dressed in a green dress and her wings were folded on her back. Smaller wings were on her feet to keep them aloft easier as well as they helped for speed.

The other had purple hair, purple eyes in the same color like her hair, a kind smile underneath the task she was set to do. But right now, that smile had been wiped out to a bewildered expression. Her wings where pearly white with a hint of pink in them. She wore a brown robe with a hood.

"Kouichi, is that really you?" she asked scratching the back of her head. Kouichi blinked.

"Miyako? I didn't know you started on the Guard duties already?"

The purple haired girl frowned. "Already, it's been fifty years since I got my task set."

"Really, time surely flies sooner then later."

The two females laughed. "Well, look at you then, what did happen to you?" Miyako stated. The ghost had floated down to them and now Miyako held her hand through his head.

"Could you stop that, it's not fun when someone jokes around death. After all, my death was not wanted, really. And look at me, a ghost and hardly able to do anything."

"Oh really?" Takuya said getting to his feet. The two Aquilas had finally removed their spears and now the vampire, and human, could get back up, no longer in need to lie as the pile they lay on.

Miyako, as the female Kouichi seemed familiar with, slowly approached them. Kouji simply ignored her but Takuya had to be staring at her as much as she stared upon him.

The other female suddenly got alert and directed her spear towards Takuya's throat. the brunette gulped having the pointy end at his throat. "Miyako, lets kill this one! he's human!" she said grinning. Takuya swallowed. This was surely not what he had expected.

Miyako's hand suddenly grabbed the spear from her friend. "Fool, you cannot kill him. Kouji and Kouichi must have brought him here for other things..."

"Well..." Kouichi started; not thinking straight. Kouji proceeded to put a hand on his mouth. Of all things they did not need was more turmoil then they already had.

"...not to mention, if they were actually trying to help this... thing, do you really think they would have brought him here now that Lady Izumi is about to go through the marriage ceremony, now that she has finally found a worthy husband. Think, of all reasons in the world. I think they are here to give the human as the wedding gift, are you not?"

Kouichi nodded slowly. But the ghost looked really pale at the mentioning of Lady Izumi. Takuya wondered why, but he had a feeling he would soon find out.

"Good, then follow us. And be welcomed to the spiritual mountain of the Aquilas!"

The two guards took the lead and led them to a city that seemed to be built on clouds. At a closer look Takuya noticed it was not really on the clouds, the rocks were simply shrouded with clouds making the sight extraordinary. Each of the buildings were connected to each other through bridges or ladders, but most of the Aquilas seemed to use their wings to fly to each location in question. The buildings were most white towers with blue painted roofs. It looked as if it came straight from some kind of a fairy tale and Takuya had to think a lot before he could manage to get all the details.

Kouji and Kouichi remained silent as they walked. Kouichi looked paler as they walked. The ghost often glanced over at his calm brother. Kouji didn't seem to be troubled that they had been captured. The Vampire seemed calm with everything and didn't even seem to notice how the Aquilas had their spears pointed at them.

Takuya felt a small knot irritation in his stomach and if they had been alone he would have said one thing or two. He felt really uncomfortable with all of the Aquila thing and wondered why they had fled here of all places? maybe Kouji and Kouichi wanted him dead? Really, they were over 200 years old and who knew what they really thought.

The Aquilas suddenly stopped and Takuya stumbled. Kouji grabbed him by the shoulder, making his trembling legs steady themselves. Miyako knocked on the pearly white door, which opened. A bright light hit their eyes and Takuya closed the. Kouichi didn't seem to mind, but Kouji did. Even if he was a Light Vampire he hated to be exposed in too much light. He liked the darkness more then he liked light.

With spears in their backs the Aquilas showed them inside. Takuya yelped feeling the pointy edge on his back and jumped in, almost falling over at the same time. The floor was made of white marble, with pillars standing in a circle in the very bright room. The sun shone through huge windows (without any glass)and the light reflected upon the gleaming polished walls. The ceiling was high, formed like a bowl over their heads and the sun shone through the glass down at them.

There were eleven chairs in the chamber. The Head Man sat on a big chair in the end of the chamber, with five female Aquilas to his left and Three other females to his right. All the Council Wise Ladies sat on gold chairs.

But to whom did the remaining two belong two? The remaining two chairs stood next to the Head Man. On one of them sat, what Takuya could guess, his wife. A pretty Aquila with gold hair and deep blue eyes. The other one was empty for the moment, but by judging on the voices from upstairs someone was one their way.

"She is late again!" the gold haired female said with a sigh.

The Head Man looked sour. Takuya looked towards the windows and saw that a group of Aquilas where right outside and they seemed to be arguing with someone he could not see.

"We cannot wait too long, this council must open whether or not Miss Izumi wants to join or not." one of the elders said.

"She is the Lady of the house and yet she acts like a girl. You are right, this doom must fall."

He looked at the three travelers. "Which one of you, are the human?" he asked pointing a staff at them. Takuya gulped. Kouichi and Kouji looked slightly humiliated having been taken for humans.

"Humans, do I look like a human to you, or your highness?" Kouichi asked.

The Head Man lifted one of his eye brows looking more carefully this time.

"Oh, so it is you again. The troublemakers that came here a few years ago, stole my daughters heart if I remember it. So, you have come to take your crime?"

Takuya chuckled. He really wondered if it would be that easy for anyone to punish either of the twins.

Kouichi looked sad. "Alas, let my crime not worry you, for my fate is set, I am merely just a ghost and surely you can say I have received my doom having to spend my days loathing in the air, entertaining my glum brother, haunting his chambers and stealing his food. Your highness, do please be considerate to a ghost in his sad predictions that he will never live again and only waits for the time when the doors to the dying world will let him rest."

The Head Man laughed. "It simply serves you right. It took me years to get Izumi from her lovesick thoughts. Nasty vampires, I presume your brother is still lucky."

"Alas, I cannot say that. My dear little brother has his problems and therefor suffers, well not as much as me, but almost as much."

Takuya looked over at Kouji, but couldn't see anything written on his face.

Kouichi finished his speech and floated down some centimeters to prove it. The Head man seemed to think about the story, which had saved the ghost and vampire for a certain death. But as he could see it, not the human.

"I see you have really been here before." Kouji said. Kouichi seemed to blush, seeing his face darkened slightly. "You were there as well, you know."

Takuya half listened as the two twins held their conversation in a whisper. But most of his attention seemed to be drawn to one of the open windows where a royal Aquila had appeared. She had blond, almost gold hair, blue, almost turquoise, eyes: She wore a violet dress with a red ribbon at the front. It had loads of embroidery and laces. She had her hair mostly loose, except for a purple tiara and some braids.

"Lady Izumi, finally you have arrived. Your father have been most worried that you wouldn't make it!" one of the elders said.

Lady Izumi sighed. She curtsied and sat down on her chair, her head in her hands and knees tight together. Her back was bent and her elbows rested on her lap. She looked incredibly bored by only the arrival. She didn't shoot the travelers one glance as the council continued.

The Head Man cleared his throat. "I can say the two of you are free from most charges you managed to receive last time, due to the respect of your brothers death. But this meeting wasn't made because of either you or your brother, we are here to discuss the fate of this horrid episode. This human!"

Takuya swallowed slowly, not sure what to say. Kouichi gently put his hand on his mouth and made a "keep quiet" sign that clearly made the brunette shut up and let the twins do his talk. Kouji cleared his throat.

"This human comes with us, and is not meant to be harmed at any cause." he said loud and clear. From her seat Lady Izumi seemed to wake up from her half slumber to really interest her for the matters before her. Only now she started to realize what was happening.

"That is a grave danger you are putting both your brother and yourself in. Do you know what this mountain do to humans?"

"I'd be surprised if you have written anything about it." Kouichi commented. Takuya looked from one twin to the other. His eyes fell on Kouji a while longer. The vampire was starting to get really tired of the whole council thing and you could see it by seeing small drops of blood trickling from his small cuts in his hands, where his nails had dug i to the pale skin. Takuya really felt like trying to calm the furious creature, but he really didn't know how. The vampire was arguing furiously with the Head Man, only making the two of them more and more angry on the other.

"I could rip the very throats of everyone on this mountain, and then you will surely be able to punish him for something he did not do." Kouji said.

"So you are saying you brought him to this world?" The Head Man asked.

"Yes... I mean NO! By all the Blood in this World, why would I do that. I know the penalties for doing so."

"Then did your brother do it?"

"Kouichi has nothing to do with this!" Kouji said clearly, his blood boiling with rage.

"Then who did it, stinking blood creature!" The Head Man roared. "And why are you defending him!"

Kouji did not answer, all though the question rang in his mind. It was a question he knew the answer of, but he was not ready to accept it yet.

"It seems, you are all guilty and tomorrow when the sun goes up, you three will be executed." the Headman finished. Takuya swallowed slowly, trembling all over. Kouji was panting and his eyes were ablaze. Kouichi opened his mouth.

"Make it two would you, I'm a ghost remember."

The Head Man snorted. "I am sure that the ghost community will be able to answer to that."

Kouichi paled even more. The ghost looked almost pleadingly at Lady Izumi, who sat glued to her seat staring at them. The girl blinked and got to her feet. The room went silence. The girl opened her mouth slowly, her eyes locked with Kouichi again and she said:

"I object, this isn't right for any creature to be treated this roughly."

The chamber went dead silence. It was an outright scandal to see the Head Man's daughter against the council. The Council all opened their mouths to speak, but Izumi interrupted them.

"Tomorrow, the three of them will be escorted out from our boundaries, and then we can all ignore this have ever happened."

Kouichi, Takuya and Kouji bowed, all three of them. It had been a relief... well... it started as a relief.

"Young Lady, sit down!" her father roared. His anger was building and everyone in the room could feel it.

"No father, I won't sit, I am not your puppy! Release them and stop treating me like I am a girl!"

The Head Man got to his feet as well, his hair standing on edge and his face burning red.

"You are my daughter and you are going to do what you are told! Sit down, and then we can arrange your wedding at once! I am tired of having such a teenage version of daughter after all these years I've waited for her to grow up."

The gold haired female by his side looked frightened and by judging the situation, Takuya guessed she wanted to say something but did not have the courage to do so.

"Then what if I'm not you daughter!" Izumi yelled throwing the royal tiara to the ground. "I've had enough years ago and guess what father. I will not regret this until the day you grow up! I am grown, I am more grown then you or this council."

The golden haired female looked pleadingly at her daughter, but no matter nothing would change what fate had in store.

The rest of it all happened in a blur. They were caught, chained and taken to the lower parts of the mountains, where they were chained to the hill. Takuya said some prayers seeing vulture like creature descend towards them. And somewhere, from somewhere, something more was approaching. It was huge, with red blazing wings and a ball of fire came from its mouth.

A dragon...

Ready for his meal.

_TBC_

* * *

**End Notes**

_Review replies are now found on the bio-page. _

_Since changed the rules, I thought it would be the easiest. _

_Sorry I am late updating, but there is a lot on my shoulders right now. School, Christmas and such you know._

_Lol_

_Shitza_


	4. Through Magical Winds

**HI again, installed OpenOffice so finally I have a spelling program again to keep my story correct. I am sorry it took so long, I am quite obstinate, but even so I had to find something. Couldn't get word for a weird reason... weird as I said. **

**Anyway, at the moment I am getting loads of Frontier information from the Internet. And, finally I can start making opinions about characters... pretty late huh? But, hopefully it will just help the writing. I have loads of plans for the characters... from all seasons to add. **

**Yep, this is a true digital fic. Special pairings, all YAOI... nothing original though... But I am not giving out more pairings then already shown. I have been spoiling too much fun in the past!**

**But something that can be said before we start. Yes, old Frontier attacks will appear from time to time, however not often. But, you will see some known and famous attacks appear.**

**Shitza **

Ps: I surely hope Kouji doesn't sound too OOC, but having Kouji in love is hard to write, and make it sound naturally.

**Chapter 4**

**Through Magical Winds**

The magical world, the hidden planet. Nemorisa, home of many legendary creatures. A world nothing ever seemed quiet and if it started to calm down, there are always creatures to make new rackets. Take the kitsune for example, a fox demon that never takes a break from his deeds. The dragon, the real clumsy flying beast that can destroy villages and burn down towns. Elves are pretty known to trap hunters, since elves are creatures of the nature and therefor highly dislikes the hunt of other living creatures. They are also vegetarians, if there is any meat they would eat they can only eat fish.

But what is the worst and most hated of all these troublemakers? Actually, they are quite common within this world. We know them through cheap tricks and fake magic. They, the real magicians and artists in magic more would call themselves wizards and witches. They are a noble blood of creatures that have been disliked, almost everywhere they had appeared. Take our world for example, the little planet Earth... What didn't we do to these cheap conjurers: burned them, hanged them... killed them... The magical community fought years to find a way to pay back on the humans, but failed. Talk about luck... would you have wanted to see someone's head on a witch's wall.

So, what do witches and wizards say when a human will pop up in their world? Can you guess what will happen? How many hasn't longed for revenge, since witches, like many other creatures, have an unusually long life. (A witch normally dies around the age of 6-8 centuries.)

Why do you need to know? Maybe because another turn appear. And what does magic have to do with our four friends? Who knows. Could it be Takuya? Can he have something more then meets the eye! Oh God... is he really just a human? What will this dragon have to tell of this matter? If this dragon, can stop licking his tongue, I mean.

* * *

"This is all of your faults! If you hadn't appeared then I could still be alive and fluttering!" the blond Aquila Izumi shouted at them, her father had let her be chained as well, but not for certain death but for punishment. If Kouji had been able to, he would have put his hands to his ears, but seeing as he was rather tied up at the moment he simply snorted back. Kouichi groaned, the ghost had been chained as well, by special made chains for already dead floating creatures. He was supposed to wait for the ghost community to get him.

"Will you shut up?" Takuya snapped trying to wriggle his hand from the collar. His hand twitched painfully and to his and all the others amazement his hand wriggled free.

"How did you do that?" Izumi asked amazed trying to wriggle out from her chains, but failed miserably. Takuya grinned, freeing his other hand. Then he proceeded to help both Kouji and Izumi on each side of him. He didn't dare remove the chains from his feet. It was a long way down.

"Shinya liked to lock my hand into various sort of objects, so one day I had to teach myself to escape those embarrassing moments. I mean, he used to stick my hand into the mail entrance of mailboxes and then lock and such. But I learned if your hand goes in, it can go out."

(A/N: I have tested that various times, from our old mail box, which had this little entrance my hand could sneak through. Don't test, there have been close calls of getting your hand stuck. But I know it works. But like I said, don't test it out! I do not want to be responsible for eventual consequences.)

Izumi chirped as Takuya helped her to remove the chains upon her feet and the Aquila female broke free. She fluttered away several meters laughing. Kouji broke free as well and helped his brother. Kouichi seemed to be quite grateful to be able to stretch his bodiless form again. The vampire had transformed into some kind of half creature, being half vampire half bat. The vampire carried the brunette, bridal style. Takuya blushed slightly as Kouji gripped him flying up with the other two. (Yes, Kouichi can fly)

The dragon noticed them and chased after, ready for an early meal. The group split and the dragon first went after Kouichi. The oldest twin could be lucky he was already dead. The dragon flew right through him and Kouichi stumbled in the air. Ghosts aren't really meant to fly, however they can if they must. But they are not good fliers.

The dragon changed direction and went after Izumi. The female screamed and twirled away using a inhuman speed. Her eyes were wide and her hands clenched in tight fists.

Fire appeared and started to grow deep inside the dragon's mouth. This scaly creature looked ready to roast her in open fire. Izumi opened her hands and closed them over her chest. Her feet crossed over each other.

"Plasma Pods!"

Red light appeared n her hands and feet. She flew towards the dragon and hit it, full power. The dragon backed having lost interest in her. Izumi gave out a deep sigh, fluttering her wings lazily. It was a tiresome game to call upon ancient magic.

The dragon now started to chase after Kouji, together with Takuya. The vampire cursed softly, as Takuya occupied his arms he could not use his magic to attack. Kouichi tried to follow, but his brother seemed to have problems to stay aloft. It ended with the ghost falling down to ground again. Kouji cursed again. Takuya held his arms around the vampire's neck, nuzzling it. Kouji could feel the brunette's breath on his skin. He cursed again... why did he have to feel so soft? And why did he always end up with thinking about him, even in the worst kind of situations. It had been the same when they had been standing in front of the council, and he couldn't help but to blush thinking a certain forbidden thoughts that had entered his mind when he had been defending the brunette.

_

* * *

_

_Kouichi had been talking, defending Takuya, risking his life since he knew what the Ghost community would do with him if they found out. His older brother was good at talking, it was a real bummer that his older twin had gotten on the bad side of the Head Man so long ago, just because his brother had a weakness that made him charm girls. His brother could look adorable, even so for being a vampire. His hair was slightly shorter then his, his body language and expression so much softer. While Kouji was the one who had since their childhood been the one to fight and get stuck into trouble, Kouichi reminded him so much about their mother. The calmness and the constant smile. If he had been a bit more like his brother he would probably have a fan club after his heels. But as it seemed, he did not, and he did not feel bad for it. His brother had, by this time, charmed almost every single royal or rich maiden that could be found. _

_The Head Man said some really nasty things to his brother, making Kouji's blood boil. He opened his mouth and started to argue furiously, defending his brother and his friend. The Head Man started to get really angry as well. The argument seemed to lift the ceiling and break the marble on the floor. The vampire's hands were wet of his own blood. _

_"I could rip the very throats of everyone on this mountain, and then you will surely be able to punish him for something he did not do." Kouji said._

_Whatever happened, he would make sure to protect the little he had left of his own brother. Not to mention, he had promised himself to look after this human, human or not. He knew, thanks to Takuya, that humans didn't need to be so bad. Even if he preferred them as lunch he still did not bite a neck, due to respect of the brunette. But why, why did he obey a simple human? He did not know. _

_"So you are saying you brought him to this world?" The Head Man asked._

_'What should I say... I don't know anymore. Why did I even help saving this kid, a human, they all die. Like mum, and dad. Maybe I...' _

"_Yes!" he started, but quickly shut up yet again. _

"_I mean NO! By all the Blood in this World, why would I do that. I know the penalties for doing so."_

_"Kouichi has nothing to do with this!" Kouji said clearly, his blood boiling with rage._

_"Then who did it, stinking blood creature!" The Head Man roared. "And why are you defending him!"_

_He couldn't believe his own thoughts, but the more he thought about it the more it seemed to be the answer. But horror reached his heart. This was even worse then the human being here. If a vampire fell in love, then the other had to become a soul mate. But would Takuya survive the rituals, the fight between the ten elements in your blood. The tradition was the same, wherever you went. A soul mate would have to suffer through the elements of Wind, Fire, Lightning, Ice, Light, Steel, Water, Earth, Wood and lastly Darkness. _

_He could not make Takuya feel the pain of hell. He loved the human, but whatever happened he would never tell. Never in a million years. _

_

* * *

_

The dragon roared even higher and more flames appeared from his mouth. Kouji cursed himself. He could not see many ways out of this, and he needed time to think. Kouichi was making his way back up, floating. Izumi was too scared to move and had hidden in a bunch of clouds. It was just them. They were alone.

Maybe this was what Kouji deserved, having fallen in love with a human. And since he couldn't find a way to run, flying would be useless since he would never be able to escape. He didn't want to drop Takuya, he was tired of loosing people and still being there. The brunette's eyes met his, as if some sort of understanding. Takuya did not know why he did as he did. But he felt secure, with Kouji holding him. Something he had not felt for many years. And for this kind of security, it was different then anything else. He didn't want it to let go.

The fire caught them, engulfing them. But as the contact was made, the wind started speaking. It only spoke to them, who listened... the dragon stopped, listening as well. A ball of fire burned where the two teens had been.

**Flares of love**

**Deep in sorrow**

**Fate of the World**

**Rely on you**

* * *

Darkness... everything was so dark. Kouji felt himself floating through a world so dark and cruel. Was this death? Was this the end? Where was Takuya? Was he here?

"_Kouji?"_

He recognized that voice. Takuya, but where was he? Kouji blinked, he couldn't see anyone.

"Takuya!" he called.

"_Kouji, I am right here! Right here!"_ the gentle voice said. Kouji looked around frantically. Somewhere beneath him he thought himself hear a high cackle. He looked down and saw fire. The burning fires of hell.

_'That explains it. The human goes to heaven, while the vampire goes to hell. We were never meant to be...'_

Kouji closed his eyes, the flames swallowed him. But they did not burn, they were calming, comfortable. Kouji opened his eyes and...

Takuya sighed in relief seeing the vampire wake up. Izumi sat on the other side, a wet towel in her hand. They had been trying for ages to awake the unconscious vampire. Kouichi was guarding, keeping his eyes on a teenage boy not too far away. The boy had wings o his back, spiky dark brown hair, red brownish eyes and a childish grin on his face. He wore a brown robe, with flames painted at the bottom. His name was Daisuke, and he was a dragon. In fact, he was the dragon that had attacked them earlier. Right now however, the young dragon was trying, with all his might, to be as far from Takuya as possible. The human had told him what he was and indeed the dragon was frightened. Humans had killed more dragons then any other kind, just think about the stories you could pick up from the world of Earth.

Seeing that Kouji was awake Izumi lost interest and went over to Kouichi to help him guard. The Aquila had stolen a knife from her father years back, that she always carried with her. Dead useful in these situations.

Kouji couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that he was yet alive. To his shock and embarrassment he found himself blushing. Takuya looked down at him, his cheeks red as well. The two of them looked away from each other. Takuya sat with his back turned at Kouji, his cheeks still burning.

"Do you feel better? You really scared me, you looked so pale, you know."

He could hear a snort coming from behind him. "You know, I am always pale. I'm a vampire remember!"

Takuya smiled, but his smile soon vanished. "I know, it's just... you made me worried. I was worried... that you, perhaps... no... it's foolish, literally you are, but still... died."

Pearly tears trickled down the brunette's face. Kouji looked at him, he could taste a small stench of salt and he realized Takuya had to be crying. The vampire hesitated, this was really against his priorities, but his curiousness got hold of him. The vampire lifted his hand slowly and put it on the brunette's shoulder. The sudden change of emotion made time stop, for the two of them, and Takuya had to restrain himself from throwing himself into Kouji's arms to cry. He had been really worried.

Kouji moved his hand closer, to touch him. Back, upon Earth, he had never really made any bigger efforts to get to know Takuya, but now he suddenly found himself with new waves of thirst. To get to know him, to explore the inner side of this human. To taste him, to taste the blood...

The vampire swiftly retrieved his hand, his eyes wide in shock. To taste the blood, what was he thinking? He didn't want to hurt the brunette, no, he could never hurt him. But the bitter truth was that he knew one day it would happen. As a vampire, the nature for his creature was to live of blood. Normally he hunted for other creatures, mostly the ones who could put up a fight. But he also ate rodents, even if the taste was slightly more bitter.

Takuya slowly looked back. Kouji's expression softened and he choose to hide his fears for now. He did not want others to know his fears. The vampire got to his feet, first he swayed a little before he finally regained balance.

"I'll be fine, don't worry." he said. Takuya nodded and followed him to face the dragon. Daisuke, who desperately tried everything to get away.

* * *

"Oh Great Lord of Dragons, show me mercy! Please, let me get away from here. I'll do anything to survive."

The young dragon boy was crying out his pleas to the sky, without luck. Izumi, who stood close by grabbed her knife and moved it close to the dragons neck. "Shut up!" she yelled. "One more word and you will regret it!"

Kouichi saw the sudden outburst of action and decided to step between the two of them. The ghost calmly took the knife from the Aquila, who was currently shaking from anger. Right then, the rest of the group arrived. Takuya made some swift efforts to restrain Izumi, who stiffened at his hold. She still wasn't completely used by his human.

Kouji yanked the dragon down and started to ask several questions. For instance, what a dragon was doing this far south? What his intentions were? Was he spying for the communities? Daisuke ignored the questions, which made the vampire even angrier. Kouji grabbed the other man by the collar and by that developed a staring contest that soon ended in a draw. Both creatures looked away from the other.

Takuya slowly let go of Izumi, who seemed to calm enough to retrieve her dagger without throwing it at the dragon again. The brunette walked over to the dragon, who panicked seeing the human approach. He tried to escape, he actually managed to get to his feet without having Kouji dragging him back. But due to bad luck, he stumbled upon a tree root only a few meters away. Kouichi laughed while Kouji walked over to drag the dragon back. He still was not through with his questions.

Daisuke now desperately tried to get away. Takuya got curious of the wings, and proceeded to touch them. They were sort of leathery, but still there was something soft about them. Not as much scales as you would imagine, indeed they were covered with soft fur.

Daisuke had fainted. In the stories, if a human would touch a dragon then the dragon was dead. Those stories had been told centuries ago when the knights fancied dragon hunting in order to impress the princesses. Dragons had almost been extinct upon Earth, and luckily the last survivors had been able to return to tell the tales. And those tales where the horror stories you told chibi dragons today.

So, it is easy to understand why Daisuke was afraid, and the dragon was most surprised nothing happened to him. Instead he felt a warm hand stroking his wings, massaging them. The dragon boy started to purr, making Takuya smile as the human continued to scratch and stroke the creature's wings. Kouji watched them feeling slightly jealous, and to his brother's amazement and amusement, he could see the signs before he did.

_Kouji had fallen in love!_

The ghost started to giggle, and did his best to hide the laughter. Meanwhile Takuya had stopped his actions seeing how Kouji's face had darkened and he wondered if something was wrong. He could hear Kouichi rolling with laughter, but he presumed it had to do with Izumi or something at the moment.

Kouji shook awake from his trance feeling the human's hand on his. The vampire's dark thoughts immediately turned lighter and a light blush appeared on his cheeks as well. Takuya started teasing him about it, not noticing that he was blushing as well. But Daisuke noticed and his eyes went wide. The dragon got to his feet and dusted of his robe. His brain was deeply confused, but even so, he knew the signs and what they said.

All though, he wondered how the two of them would manage it?

* * *

The sun stood at its highest point and the five of them sat in a cave, enjoying some rest as well as the shade. The sun was burning hot outside, yet neither Takuya or Daisuke seemed to notice. Kouji seemed quite cool as well, his brother hid in his shadows and did not complain. It had been Izumi who had been picking on them to stop.

You cannot say the really trusted Daisuke yet, but during their walk they had learned a lot about him. For example, that he had gotten into a fight with some older dragons, who had thrown him out from their village and now he lived in exile until he could prove himself to be a worthy person again. Only two dragons had been against it, his cousins Taichi and Hikari, but so much could they do to help. He didn't have a home anymore.

"I am really sorry I started to hunt you guys, but the Aquilas are known for carrying good tasting meat. No offense Lady Izumi, my vision is harder when I am transformed then when I am like this. Guess why dragons destroy so much, we can't actually see sometimes what we are aiming at."

Kouji shook his head. The vampire had gotten them some light, a light orb from his palm. Takuya was about to ask him how he did that. It was as unexpected as to what Kouichi had told him during their walk.

* * *

**Flashback**

_The ghost had stopped him for a few seconds. Takuya had no idea why, but he did not protest. _

"_Okay, Takuya, I know you are a human, but that leaves me a few questions. How did you and Kouji survive that fire? A dragon's fire is said to kill at the first touch."_

_Takuya blinked. His memories raced back to the same moment Kouichi was talking about. He remembered feeling scared, and then some kind of warm heat emitting from his body, reflecting the dragon's fire._

_The ghost blinked hearing this tale. _

"_I wonder if you are able to hear this, but we can trash the human side in your blood. You are more then a human."_

_

* * *

_

Those words echoed in Takuya's mind. More then a human, but did he really have any other blood? He seriously doubted it, but who knew. Could that explain things like the fires that had started to emit from his body, especially whenever he was scared. Like why he resisted heat. Like, why he loved Kouji?

Takuya suddenly jerked awake. "Damn!" he whispered looking up to spot Kouji looking at him. The vampire looked away as soon as they made eye contact. Takuya sighed. _Why him? Why on Earth did it have to be him?_

* * *

Several days came and went. By that time, the five travelers took a careful journey, not to absorb too much attention. They were getting closer to the Magical lands and there no one knew what could happen. Generally, most magical creatures such as witches and wizards, were usually calm and friendly as long as you did not barge in. But now, traveling with a human and not to mention a dragon, who knew what could happen.

The witches and wizards guarded their boarders with magical threads, unseen to everyone except for themselves. Did it have to be such a coincident that Daisuke was the first to unmistakably cross that border, alerting them all.

Before they knew it, two wizards, one witch, and apprentice and unmistakable to their surprise, a kitsune fox, appeared before them. The witch had reddish brown hair, tied up in a spiky ponytail. She wore black robes, a black pointy hat and carried a thin wand in her hand. She had gloves, with a painted skull on each.

One of the wizards wore gray robes, no hat and his hair was short standing up. He also wore fingerless red gloves and carried a wand as well.

The second wizard had glasses, green robes tied with a belt. He had a pointy marine blue hat and wore white gloves that looked quite formal. He didn't, at least to their eye, carry a wand but instead he had thin staff with a diamond on top. The vampire, ghost and dragon knew what this meant. He was probably one of the most powerful of them, or the wiser.

The apprentice, for they could already see he was an apprentice due to his clothing. He wore a white tunic, loose pants and carried a thin sword that reminded Takuya about the Kendo swords. He also had a wand, all though it looked more like a tree root. His hair was brown and bowl cut.

The servant, slave or whatever you would call it, was a kitsune fox. He had shoulder length hair, wore simple rags that the wizards and witches had thrown to him. He looked at the five of them shyly, not daring to look his masters in the eye.

The witch eyed them suspiciously. Takuya could feel the heat around him. The heat rose... much to his surprise, and to everyone else.

_TBC_

_

* * *

_

**Evil, ain't I? Hope you enjoyed, thanks for all wonderful reviews! Review responses can be found at my livejournal account. **

**Shitza**


	5. In Fire and Love

_Hi again... once more I have updated this, much to my own surprise. This story turns out to be far easier to continue then my other. And it is a lot more romantic... don't you think?_

_For those who likes prophecies and such, you will love this chapter! _

_Yet be beware of that it has a long introduction and loads of facts. But all the same, facts can be important, and it took a lot of work to get this straight. _

_The YAOI in this story is coming quite early, but it's the consequences that will turn out far more interesting. (laughs evilly)_

_Shitza_

_Ps: Since some people perhaps doesn't know the Japanese names of the characters, I am giving you the names here. _

_Season1: Taichi/Tai, Yamato/Matt, Mimi/Mimi, Sora/Sora, Jyou/Joe, Koushiro/Izzy, Hikari/Kari, Takeru/TK. _

_Season2: Daisuke/Davis, Miyako/Yolei, Iori/Cody, Ken/Ken._

_Season3: Takato/Takato, Jenrya/Henry, Ruki/Rika, Ryo/Ryo, Hirokazu/Kazu, Kenta/Kenta, Juri/Jeri, Shuiichon/Suzie, Ai/Ai, Mako(to)/Mako._

_Season4: Takuya/Takuya, Kouji/Koji, Kouichi/Koichi, Izumi/Zoe, Junpei/JP, Tomoki/Tommy_

**Chapter 5**

**In Fire and Love**

The World of Nemorisa, the hidden place for chaos and order. Dragons fights ghosts ad ghosts fights Raikis. The MistHimis builds walls around their cold fortress and constantly you can spot one of the elves playfully trapping another enemy to nature in deadly yet magical ways. But what does millions of ghosts and creatures believe in, apart from their powers and their hopes.

It is quite simple, and yet so confusing I am afraid you will get lost somewhere in the middle of it.

"Long ago, even before this universe was born and God built it there existed a pure evil. So evil, that it blackened the very hearts they had and their thoughts cannot be described as no words are dirty enough to say it. These creatures... called Füslochemedishlia Wosczkélighaizels, in their undying tongue, the Fallen Dead (long name) were shadows of every impure thought or feeling that ha in their time, ever existed. Due to the fact that they thought impure thoughts day and night (which did not exist by that time) they steadily grew to a huge number, thinking themselves as unstoppable.

But every evil has one stop, and that is holiness. One day, their darkness was wiped away as light met their eyes. The darkness had to flee from the light, and fled as fast as it could. Around it a beauty beyond belief rose. The Universe was born, and thus their number and their power weakened. The impure Fallen Dead, slowly vanished, leaving behind a black hole. Not like the black holes you have heard about. No, this was a hole of darkness... their last grains of powers.

With nothing to wield the powers, it started to forge. Since the globe is the fullest form, without any sticks and corners to unbalance it, a new world started to build on top of the old one. In this world, similar to the Human World, creatures appeared and were born from the shadows. At first they had no names, no real forms and primitive instincts. But as time passed, they grew apart, started to form. The first real forms were called Plasmas, Flesh and Stones, for indeed they were built of either plasma, flesh or stone.

The centuries passed. The Plasma formed to three different creatures. Ghoul, Ghost and Spirit. The ghost soon became common as the creatures of flesh turned to plasma creatures and therefor continued to live. The creatures of flesh, they divided to natural creatures, such as elves and fairies, the royal creatures, such as Aquilas and MistHimi, or the dead creatures, as vampires and werewolves. The rock creatures turned into creatures like giants, trolls or Raiki.

The different creatures choose their part of this world to live, and rarely met unless they fought for more territory or more power. Some creatures though were mostly left alone. The Aquilas lived too high to the clouds, and the MistHimi only had ice to give. Others had land they really wanted. Like the Raikis, whom after several hundreds years soon had to flee from their lands. The Raikis, the thunder beasts as they also were called, owned great territories of wood, something elves surely loved.

But this legends does not really start here, you only need to know how this world was formed. How different creatures like elves, witches, trolls, dragons and ghosts live together. This world lives like a parallel to ours, all though it looks and acts a lot more different then ours. So what will the actual story be. Take it from the time Nemorisa was born, multiply the years some million times and what do you land on. BOOM... in my weird little calculation... 1563 AD... or 87 during the Demonic Dark Times.

Nemorisa normally is a quiet place, without too much fighting. Well, when we say normal we mean less then ten wars a year. If more occurs then we call it a Full year, it means a lot of action. But the Demonic Dark Times, few speaks of it and few does even dare think about them. Because there is one creature that stands out. They are locked away, being tossed away to make no harm. Every creature, except for the mighty dragons really fear them. Still, as you might have heard by now, whenever a dragon transforms into a dragon, then he cannot see what he is attacking. If he would, he would be as frightened as the rest of them.

It was said, during that time, that no one could defeat the demons, yet somehow the age was put to a stop. Legends tells of six warriors, all of different blood that slaughtered the creatures and sealed them away into a holy gate. But when it was time to seal it, one of them had mysteriously disappeared. They did their best, but the gate received one fault. If the demons would get out, you could not lock it again. And as the greater witches and wizards predicted, that would one day happen."

* * *

Kouichi whimpered knowing they were surely doomed this time. Kouji remained silent and alert. He did not trust witches, he hated them. Witches always meant trouble and he glared at the witch before him.

One of the wizards, the one carrying glasses, held out his staff and suddenly a magical cage appeared around them. Then they started to introduce themselves.

"I am Kenta. My other friends here are Ryo and Ruki. The short guy is Iori. This little fox over there is called Ken." he said speaking friendly. This surprised Takuya, since people mostly snarled at their arrival.

"We are honored to meet!" Izumi said, crossing her fingers behind her back. The Aquila seemed as pissed of as Kouji. Takuya watched the vampire from the corner of his eyes. Kouji was saying something, in a snarling language, to his brother. The two twins nodded at each other. Takuya turned his attention back to the magical folks that stood watching them. Next moment when Takuya looked back at the twins, Kouichi was gone.

'_That's weird!'_ he thought not noticing the riot that suddenly started between the witch and one of her friends.

"Stop that! Give me back my wand Ryo!"

She was poking the gray robed wizard on the chest. The wizard, Ryo, didn't seem to have any idea of what she was talking about, making her even more angry then she already was.

"I don't have your wand. Seriously Ruki, you can't go on like this, calling people thieves and traitors just because you misplace things."

"So, you are calling me a liar then? I had it in my hand just a minute ago."

"I am not calling you anything."

The girl Ruki sighed. "Perhaps, but it still doesn't explain how it disappeared like that. Fox, go look for it!" she roared.

The kitsune boy bowed and hurried away, somehow looking slightly relieved to be away from his mistress. Daisuke stared after the fox as the tail disappeared slowly. The witch sat down, growling. The other wizard, Kenta, fixed his glasses and sighed.

The apprentice was guarding them, his sword hung over his shoulder and he was patrolling back and forth. Takuya had given up on thinking they would be able to escape and now sat with his back leaning at the bars. The witch Ruki and the wizard Ryo had thrown a huge argument over things, and to Kenta's deep sighs it didn't seem that they would stop anytime soon. The wizard was trying to stop his friends, as well as dodging the random amount of spells being cast. Their kitsune had yet not returned with Ruki's staff and it made the girl really angry.

As they sat there, waiting for either death or a miracle, Daisuke couldn't stop thinking about this certain little fox he had met. The sorrow upon the creature's eyes knowing he would never escape this slavery. The dark hair, the soft tail and those glorious eyes. If he didn't know better he would say he was falling in love. But with a fox! Gods know what Taichi would make fun of him if he ever heard about this. All though he already knew his cousin had a boyfriend already. A werewolf, Yamato... come to think about the irony, Hikari was currently dating Yamato's younger brother, Takeru... He did remember the two of them, a really odd pair, but better then the rest of their kind. At least they did not try to bite you when you weren't looking.

Meanwhile Kouji was drumming his fingers on the ground, waiting for his brother's signal. His brother was taking time, and he hoped he had not been caught. Kouichi was supposed to steal the unlocking scroll to this trap, that if he would return sooner. The vampire looked over at Takuya, who sat with his head resting on his knees, which had been dragged up to his chin. His arms were folded around his legs. The human was worried, Kouji could actually smell a tiny hint of fear in his blood. He was shocked... Takuya was normally not afraid. What was going on?

The brunette looked up at the vampire. Takuya smiled encouragingly before sighing. The vampire, who seemed to forget that there was others watching them, moved closer to him. Time seemed to stop around them as the vampire touched the human's cheek. Takuya stared at Kouji, wondering what was going on and he wondered what strange feelings he suddenly had? The vampire edged closer, most ignoring his memories from the last time their breaths had touched each other. He was completely unaware that Daisuke and Izumi was watching the two of them with interest. The dragon was smirking while the Aquila looked shocked. She cursed softly seeing she had lost one bet with Kouichi. You should never bet with ghosts, especially if that ghost happened to be brother to half of it.

Kouji stopped for a short second... he could stop his actions, but he did not know if he really should. Flashes of his sole life appeared before him. His brother's death when someone pushed him into the light, destroying him completely. His mother passing away, asking him to find his brother. Their father... the man he used to respect, slaughtered by his own kind. He never told this to his brother, he knew his brother already knew about their parents deaths.

Takuya pulled back slightly. Their gazes met and all the vampire could see in the human's eyes was nothing but sadness. The vampire looked frightened as the human turned away, deep sadness reflected in his eyes. Pearly tears trickled down the humans eyes. Kouji rarely saw Takuya cry, and he hated it. He had to do something, and now. He cursed himself, cursed his full life. But what the hell... hell awaited him anyway! He didn't really have anything to loose anymore. He did not know why, or how this would work? He did not know the full consequences, or how the world shook beneath their feet.

Takuya was shocked, and more tears trickled down his face. But not because of sorrow. He was happy.

Their first kiss... a passionate and warm oath to love each other. Using every ounce of their souls they could picture their love to each other, in one single movement.

Izumi looked away, all though if half of her heart had decided it that very moment it would have laughed of joy. Daisuke smiled widely, keeping his mouth shut not to disturb. The two of them would be embarrassed enough later. The kiss lasted for some more seconds, and when the to one day be legendary pair, finally broke up it seemed like things around them changed drastically, like their world turned, the flowers started dancing and the clouds disappeared. The wind seemed to speak to them, but only met deaf ears. But for the few who listened, in this case Izumi and the witches, they heard it... the same words that their mothers had sung for them at least on time of their life.

**The shadow grows  
The moon glows  
The wind howls  
The chaos draws near**

**Born of Fire he will rise  
Made by Light, he may fall  
Two they meet, to destroy  
The Universe we know  
Six warriors, our hope lies  
To rebuild this world  
To bring peace  
The rules will bend  
The dragon roars  
The legend unfolds  
With heart and courage  
With strength and wisdom**

**Flares of Love**

**Deep in Sorrow  
Fate of the world  
Rely on you**

* * *

Would you like to try and travel beneath the earth you stand on? No? Of course not. You have no idea how much Kouichi really hated this kind of job. First of all, all the dirt that passed through him, and all of the thoughts about the bugs getting to see some of his inner sides. It was enough to make the ghost go green as he had always hated bugs. Secondly, he could not see anything. For it is impossible to see through soil. Thirdly, the smell. It stank down there!

The ghost looked up, or to what he believed would be up. It was hard to know if you were floating ten feet beneath the ground. He climbed steadily, careful not to go to quick. If he would then he could say goodbye to this life and say hello to hell. He didn't really want hell, he hated that kind of evil darkness.

At least he guessed right, for seconds later he reached the surface, or the ground again. Just to make sure only his eyes could see what was happening he stayed down. He looked around, only to receive a shock of a lifetime. At least he was outside the cage... but looking back he couldn't help but to smile, received a worm on its trail through his stomach.

His brother, and Takuya was kissing. It was priceless! He wished he had one of those human cameras so he could take the picture of this.

The witch and the wizards were standing some meters away from the cage, listening to the wind. They were quiet, and seemed pale. Their apprentice seemed worried and couldn't get any contact with them. They seemed to be in some sort of a trance. Their eyes were dull and they stood staring up towards a darkening sky. Six stars, all in different colors shot through the sky. One was burning red with a dark black tail, another icy blue with a white tail. The third was black, with a gray tail. Another was purple being followed by a pink tail, the fifth was yellow surrounded by a blue light. The last was green with a light blue glow.

"So, the time has come." Ruki said in a strange voice."

"So it seems, and only they can change our destiny." Ryo answered.

* * *

The group of magical people gently removed the magical bars around the strange travelers and shared some well deserved apologies for their actions. Well deserved, for they had been locked to that cage for hours. Izumi really cheered when she was free, stretching her wings again. Daisuke seemed to enjoy the wind under his wings again, and from the ground the kitsune fox Ken watched him curiously. Kouji went to find his brother, to tell that they wouldn't have to continue on his brother's escape plan. The vampire was blushing slightly, yet trying to hide it. Takuya remained where he had been, his mind twirling and his body temperature must have risen at least ten degrees by now. The kiss still burned on his lips, and the evil creature in his body roared with joy. At least, next time Kouji would reject him he would know what the vampire truly felt. Kouji had to have the strangest character known flexing like he did.

As soon as everyone returned back, Kouji dragging his protesting brother by the arm. The ghost complained saying he could walk on his own, but only deaf ears listened. Kouji seemed to enjoy himself hearing Kouichi's replies and remarks. The ghost held a sort of annoyed expression as the group of five returned into reunion. The wizard, Ryo apologized yet again and lead them to the magical village of spells, scrolls and enchantments. The center of all magic around the world.

The first thing that met them, however turned out to be something beyond magic. First they saw a troll, then it changed to a tree, then to a giant dragon and then...

_TBC_

_(Laughs) I bet you want to know, don't you? If you are sure about that, then may I suggest you stay tuned to the next chapter, hopefully coming, soon!_

_Shitza_


	6. To Taste Freedom

_Confusing, that to add... This story is turning out so confusing I don't even know how it started out. There are so many small details I am working on it is weird I have reached this far. And yet they have a long way to go. Hopefully, this story will be finished by summer, but that depends on how many and how hard my exams will turn out. _

_This author, has developed a real taste for Digimon music. It's turning so bad her computer plays Digimon music without stop. Only a few days ago she found "With Broken Wings", Kouichi's song, in German. Crazy enough, she don't understand a lot of German, except for a few words that sounds related to Swedish. _

_I've also decided to make these chapters a little longer. So updates will take even longer from now. But with that, you will get more from it. _

_Shitza_

_Ps: Do tell if you think I should higher the rating, I mean, so far I have such fun writing this it would be easy to get carried away. _

**Chapter 6**

**To Taste Freedom**

How many communities does there exist? Surely, you all wonder. Well, truth to be told, no one has counted because literally every day a new creature is born while an old race die. Take the Hobaconk for example, the poor thing existed for ten days at the most. While such a think like the MistHimi doesn't even budge. The Shapeshifter, they are always down in number but no where near extinction. There are loads of creatures around Nemorisa in the Ishida Galaxy and yet no one knows how many. If you would try to count all the different races you would stop counting after 10 000 years, and when you would be done, you would have to recount seeing new species come old species die.

So, how does the communities know what sort of creatures dwell in this world? Fortunately for Nemorisa each race can be counted for an element, which reacts to them. Take the dragon for example, I mean, it spits fire every day. The Aquila, who uses the weight of air to keep flying. Really, each race is bonded with an element, and in order for that bond to work the creature cares for the element and the element provides the creature with the necessary things. The dragons lives close to the volcanoes, keeping them balanced. The Aquilas live up in the sky, attacking whoever tries to destroy the fresh air they so desire.

If there is something that would combine the powers of each race in this world, it would be if something threatens to disrupt the balance between the elements and the creatures. Every creature, minimum or giant, did what they could do defend the element they were related to. Actually, this would be the only thing that would stop the constant worrying about humans, for the elements could mean anyones death. Elements did not have any connection between races, as one witch could have another relation to another element. It depended on which of the ten months you were born. The year went from...

Ice- Toira  
Fire- Harana  
Water- Livia  
Thunder- Ichigora  
Darkness- Chuisa  
Light- Tamira  
Steel- Musika  
Earth- Jumena  
Wind- Tistera  
Wood- Miama

So, it didn't matter really what race you was born from... all that really mattered was which month you were born from. Each month had 35 days, except for the more ceremonial Chuisa and Tamira... celebrated because during that time this world was fighting the darkness, and one. Chuisa was 42 days long, because during this time the demons were leading the war, and everything had looks lost. Then it turned to Tamira, 42 days long, when the tide turned and they won. Actually, the twins Kouichi and Kouji had been born when the tide turned... there is one extra day that has no connection to the months, it stands out and children born this day are birthed with either fortunes or destruction. This was when everything clashed, and therefor it is called Jija... the day of calamity. Children born this day are either darkness or light, which explains why the twins are so different even though Kouichi is only five minutes older then his brother.

So, like always, why do you read all of this information? This time, it is to understand the battles that are about to come, and realize the fears as if one element would be fully destroyed, then the balance would be disrupted. And what to expect as this story continues...

* * *

Takuya simply gaped seeing the new creature standing right before him. And he didn't seem to be the only one to do so. Izumi was struck in awe as well, all though she seemed to have a clearer vision over what sort of creature they had countered. Kouji simply frowned and looked away. Kouichi watched the creature with interest. 

"Takato, I had no idea you would come here of all places?" the wizard Ryo said greeting him warmly. The wizard Kenta laughed and hurried over to greet one of his best friends. Takato smiled, turned into a cucumber, a horse and then back to himself again. Yet not completely, his nose kept turning as Ruki frowned.

"It's so typically you getting into trouble. What did you do this time? Did you touch my potion bottles I will blow you to pieces, you know!"

"I'm a Shapeshifter, I have no need of your potions, I can change myself as I want. No, it's just that a bunch of kitsune foxes caught me only last week, but this spell on me and told me to tell you guys to let Ken go. They will not remove my spell if I did not obey them. And to say, this spell is horrible, in one second you are a yeti, the next one a fish."

"Serves you right!" Ruki said snapping her fingers under his nose.

Kenta said something to Ryo, which sounded very much like...

"I bet Jenrya sent him on this. He is a pretty good actor, don't you think?"

Ryo laughed and replied.

"Yeah, all though I cannot understand why they try to keep it a secret. Those two have been sneaking around the truth for years."

"Maybe a love potion could solve it." Kenta suggested.

"Don't be ridiculous! They are in love, they don't need to crawl before each other."

Takuya shook his head not understanding one part of what was spoken. The Shapeshifter, as he now knew what it was, had brown eyes and hair, wore a white unbuttoned shirt and chestnut brown pants. His clothes seemed to disappear with every transformations. The witch Ruki seemed to be on fire for something, and poor Takato did his best to defend himself. But to fight with a witch like Ruki is no good signs as she is powerful and it ended with the Shapeshifter being locked away into a matchbox, in the shape of a rodent.

"This is so humiliating!" Takato complained as Ruki put the matchbox into her pocket. She could deal with him later.

Ken, the kitsune fox had looked quite hopeful when Takato had turned up, but now his hopes died yet again. Takuya looked over at the creature, about the same time as Daisuke did. The human wondered why a kitsune fox would be so important, and Daisuke wondered if the fox was single. It was a good thing that the others couldn't hear thoughts, only phantoms can read thoughts and in some cases the elves can break through mental barriers. But no phantom or elf to hear him.

The band of magical people split, going into different directions to take care of, whatever they had done before the alarm about sneaking visitors. Iori returned to the other apprentices, to continue his practice. Ruki disappeared to a small house and only minutes later you could hear major blows coming from it. Smoke in various colors indicated that the witch was continuing on her experiments. Ryo was hooked of by some weird looking creatures Kouichi explained were goblins. They were a smaller version of the huge trolls and much easier to communicate with without getting beheaded. Like a ghost would have to worry though.

Even Kenta had to disappear, but before he left he told the servant Ken to show them around. The wizard said that he would have to speak to the council about Ruki's behavior and find a way to set Takato free again. Shapeshifters are creatures of water and for some odd reason also vulnerable to small spaces like traps and in this case, matchboxes. Takato also happened to be born during Harana, the month of Flame and therefor his powers were far from strong. His defenses were quite low and if someone did not let him out, Kenta did not want to think about what would happen. The wizard was of and they were left alone with one sulky kitsune who told them to follow him.

Takuya stayed close to Kouji as they walked. This place gave him the creeps and he was most amused to see Kouji's glares at all the witches around them. Apparently Kouji disliked this place as much as Takuya started to dislike it. The magical city was far to quiet to be called a city. People went where they were going, without uttering a word to each other.

Ken lead them through the smallest streets they had ever been at. Some of these weren't even streets, they were clips between the houses. It seemed that to fox feared witches and wizards above anything else. Ever since he had been caught, stealing fruit from a garden half a year ago, the fox feared what would happen to him.

"Don't worry. You are with us!" Izumi tried to tell him over and over again. Being born of royal blood Izumi was more used to open spaces, even though she did not dislike the quiet spots she did not like to curl her wings to nothing. It hurt and strained loads by doing so.

Daisuke walked the closest to the kitsune and from time to time the dragon would bump into him, making the two of them blush furiously. Takuya eyed Kouji, who seemed to think the same. The human boy slid his hand into the vampire's and smiled widely. Kouji stood paralyzed as Takuya bent over to kiss him again. Kouji sighed, kissing him back. It would take a while to get used to this. He had stopped ignoring it, which was good, but he wasn't prepared for everything that would happen after this. He didn't even want to think what the vampires would plan for the two of them, once the news spread. He had had nightmares before, ever since he had realized this he had had nightmares. Really, it was ironical that they had turned so close. Takuya was really forward in everything he did, Kouji rarely made decisions unless it was over his brother. Their personalities shouldn't clash so good but yet something drew them together.

Ken showed them to a small house. It was getting late, and tomorrow they would have another day to look forward to, expected to be up. The five split. There were three rooms. Two singles and one double. Izumi took one, Daisuke the other single room. Takuya and Kouji shrugged taking the double. Kouichi floated away to, Gods knows where. The ghost had other plans for the night since he did not need sleep.

The moon glowed over Nemorisa. The moon was as unpredictable as everything else in this strange world. The mild glow however could show everything into the darkness. In one room, a girl with pearly wings was crying feeling homesick and alone. In another, a dragon boy was dreaming of love. In the third, one of the boys had forgotten about his home, the other was far more interesting in a tiny more passionate matter. Kouji's mouth trailed over Takuya's neck, the fangs itching to sink down but the vampire refusing to hurt him in any devastating way. It was a dangerous matter for the two of them. But with Kouji still being able to control his lust for blood, so far there was nothing to worry about. But Kouji could remember, how great Takuya's blood had tasted, which occasionally made him bite him on parts of the neck. Small drops of blood entered the vampire's mouth.

Kouji moaned, the taste almost hypnotizing him. The vampire soon got of, it was getting late and he had received a victory, the taste of his love's blood still lingering in his mouth. One last action was required and that was to mend the evidence. The vampire flicked in tongue over the small bites, and they immediately healed. Takuya kissed Kouji again before the two of them lay down, close to each other. With a last Good Night they closed their eyes and fell asleep.

**Kouji's Nightmare**

_The sky was dark around them. Huge clouds, filled with rain and thunder swiftly flew over their heads as if time was quickening. Dying trees, blackened by fire stood on a red desert. A destruction of an Era, the turn of the tide. An endless amount of corpses, gathered to be burned. He recognized some of them. Izumi, pierced through the heart even before she could claim the throne that would be hers. His brother, all being left of him was a dark shadow. His life force had been stolen and taken to hell. A young MistHimi lay by his feat carrying a heart shaped crystal that still glowed. A spear had killed the boy. A Raiki, half dead and crushed by sorrow. It wouldn't be long before he too would die like everyone else had. Soldiers... Creatures... this had been the end of their world. The vampire could see himself crying over a corpse in his hands. Brown hair, flames that had been killed. He was blind now, blind to everything that happened around him. _

_Several faceless shapes walked up to him, surrounded him without him noticing. Each one of them clad in black cloaks, dark leather gloves on their hands. Each carrying long black spears. They got closer to the vampire. Red glows surrounded them and then, the first blow came. His screams pierced the sky, the earth and the waters. Blood trickled from his chest to the ground. His eyes started to blur and he clung to the corpse before him for everything that he had. The second spear hit him, and his screams grew. His eyes widened. _

"_NO!" he screamed seeing his own and Takuya and everyone else's destiny. Suddenly black flames engulfed his dying future and this time there was no sound coming. This time, there was no words that could express the pain. He could see rags of his clothes fly from his body as it exploded. A huge ball of light. And then..._

_**End Nightmare**_

He shot up from bed. Takuya was staring at him. The brunette had heard him scream and it had nearly given him a heart attack. The vampire breathed harshly before he calmed down enough to look back at Takuya. Pain was traded between their eyes.

"I'm sorry... I..." Kouji swallowed not sure what to say.

"You had a nightmare and you nearly gave me an heart attack with that scream." Takuya said lightly. "But those things happen. I will always be there for you Kouji. I will always be with you."

Kouji tried to smile as the human hugged him calmingly. But something in his mind nagged him. The dream.

_'No Takuya, one day you will not. You are human and will never live as long as I will. And besides, if that dream is true, it only shows how vulnerable you really are. But I love you, I cannot let you go anymore. Now that I know, the consequences will one day catch me. And when they do, who will be there for me. Who will...'_

* * *

The sun slowly rose over the horizon. Over magical realms several ducks had started It was the start of Jumena, the month presented for Earth. It was celebrated as a offspring festival with loads of herbs and plants that had grown. Like Livia was the start for growing, Jumena ended it. Children born in Jumena also gave loads of fortunes for the future. 

During this day more creatures visited these lands. Most creatures came far from the mountains, some even from the sea (mermaids). The witches and wizards were the symbolic creatures of Earth and therefor held the grandest celebration. Witches were the first creatures to ever fully rely their power upon Earth, and by that it was said that if the Earth would die, the witches and wizards would be as powerless as humans. Well, looking at magic they would. Humans had no magic, this was well known. Who knew really what the creatures of Nemorisa feared from them.

This day would turn out to be even more special then it already was, for as the sun rose and the young witches and wizards hurried out to play, someone suddenly shouted:

"The Raiki! The Raiki is here to visit!"

Young children ran down to the gates to welcome a... well, to the first sight, furry big boulder. Something in the boulder said something and the kids hurried away.

Same time, Ken had returned to fetch the travelers, this unusual group that had arrived the day before. The kitsune fox was unusually content, something he had not been ever since he had been a free creature. He had his reasons to be where he was, but surely enough he should have repaid it soon. After all, he seemed to have served the wizards for ages.

The fox still wore a smile when he reached the small house the travelers borrowed for their rest. Gently he knocked on two of the doors, hearing silent grunts coming from inside meaning they had heard. But when he came to the third door he changed his mind, took out a small gold key and opened.

Daisuke lay in a heap of wrinkled quilt tangled between his legs. His wings had been folded behind his back, the fur standing in turfs.

Ken simply stood by the doorway, eying him. The fox dashed his tail back and forth. The kitsune quietly took a stool and sat down, his tail dancing between them, gently stroking the dragon boy's hand. Daisuke opened an eye. He had had such a good dream, and it only became better. Thinking he was still dreaming, he did something he would not have believed he would ever have the courage to if he had been awake. Most of all, Ken was surprised when the dragon cupped his hand under his chin, driving him closer so that their lips met. Ken didn't know how on Earth he would be able to explain this to his own community, and to Jenrya, the leader of the clan. Jenrya, who also happened to be his cousin, which had something to do with everything that had happened. But he didn't think of his sadness now no. He was enjoying this, dragging the dragon closer to him. Their bodies seemed to melt together and they were surely unaware of that others seemed to know as well. No one was watching, but since Ken was a wizard's slave and slaves in this world carried certain spells allowing the owner to know what he was doing, let just say that another **Boom** could be heard from Ruki's laboratory, Kenta was grinning madly and Ryo dropped his own wand into the cauldron of surprise. Yet each of them were happy, that one evil foe had turned to their side.

* * *

**Flashback**

_It was the start of Livia and the trees were blossoming. And people didn't think there would be any problems seeing the white flowers shine like thousands of candles before their eyes. However, from the south new reports had been made that a kitsune, calling himself the Emperor or Kaiser, was slowly taking control. The wizard and witches didn't fear this happening, they were busy enough planning on this years growing and the herbs they needed. It really came like a rampage, like a storm. Before they knew it, this Kaiser declared war with the magical people wanting to strengthen his own kingdom. This of course was not taken lightly by any creature, and the magical folk would never stand under his banner. _

_A war, so unlike many others, well since for once less then a hundred had been killed, took place receiving its place in history to be known as "the war without meaning." Ken came riding upon one of his creations, a cross between some of the deadliest living creatures ever known. But he had not counted that magic had nothing to do with strength of armies. It was the strength from the earth that created it and this was things beyond his understanding. His creation had been destroyed thanks to the combined powers they could forge. He had been captured in his own agony, stealing food to survive. Then taken to slave for them until he would learn his lesson. _

**End Flashback**

* * *

Kouji was half asleep when Ken came to awoke them. The vampire rolled over to his back, only to find himself wrapped in Takuya's arm. The vampire smiled and gently kissed the human on the forehead. Takuya opened his eyes lazily. The human rubbed his sleep from his eyes, and proceeded to touch his neck to simply found out there was no evidence left from the adventures of the night. Kouji smiled, all though his mind screamed he was going way to soft! But as long as they were alone no one needed to know. Kouichi knew anyway, or his twin brother would have stopped teasing him about it. 

The two of them got dressed and opened the door to their bedroom only to find the corridors in chaos. Izumi was yet only wearing a violet bathrobe, her feet in fluffy pink slippers. The wings had been plucked into small holes in the back. The girl was laughing herself unconscious, because she had been the first of the to find out. Having picked the wrong door on her way to the bathroom she had stumbled upon them and now the kitsune fox and the young dragon were blushing furiously.

Kouichi had found out as well, making things worse. Once the ghost knew nothing could shut him up, meaning in only a few minutes half this town would already know about it. Poor them, once Kouichi started to warm up there was no way to stop him.

But this day will not tell about their love coincident or in this case this story will go on forever and ever. We would never get to the real fun stuff, which just waited down by the gates. The five, with Ken six, split into three groups. Ken and Daisuke went to do whatever they planned. Izumi insisted to going to the market alone, yet Kouichi followed her on Kouji's order, making sure she would not buy something stupid. Takuya hurried after Kouji as the vampire slowly walked down to the gates, to figure out how to get away from here without causing more havoc then already. It was then the human would get a shock of a lifetime. First he believed it to be a rock, and while Kouji examined the walls the brunette sat down. Upon something that suddenly threw him off.

"Get off me will ya! Disrespect upon Raiki doesn't bid well. Who the hell are you, thinking you can use my like a chair!"

Takuya yelped. The rock he presumed had been a rock suddenly stood up. Kouji walked up to the human, helping him from the ground. The vampire looked, amused.

"What are... who are you!" Takuya asked.

The mountain stood up. "I am the Raiki living closest to this place. One of the rarest and most powerful creatures you will find. I possess the stunning powers of storms and thunder my name is..."

"Hello Junpei!" Kouichi said, dragging Izumi over to them. The Aquila seemed really angry having wanted to buy some nice souvenirs, yet Kouichi had his orders and therefor this sudden action. The Aquila was yelling furiously, her eyes gleaming dangerously. But Kouichi didn't seem to notice. The ghost had shifted his attention from the struggling creature he held on to, to the dusty Raiki that had arrived.

Kouji smiled. Before Takuya had time to blink the vampire had shredded a layer of what seemed to look like rags. Beneath the rags and torn cloth stood a boy. He looked about a year older than himself, but like every creature he he didn't look really human. For example, he was twice the size. He also had solid rock hard skin and his eyes glowed electric blue. However he seemed nice, unless you did like Takuya did. Sat on him.

Kouji threw the remaining rags to the ground. His brother was laughing his head of, mainly since Izumi had her jaw hanging. The Aquila had never been outside her father's kingdom and had never seen this creature before. She had seen other creatures as plenty of them came to ask for her father's wisdom. But this time, it was the first time she saw a Raiki.

Junpei looked over at the fair lady and smiled. The Raiki got up and bowed rather clumsily before her.

"Shibayama Junpei at your service!" he said. Now Kouichi was laughing so much he had fallen through the ground.

Kouji however didn't seem amused. The vampire obviously had met this Raiki before. To say, he did not trust Junpei. Last time he did so the vampire had been thrown down a cliff.

Junpei seemed to notice something was wrong. Such a great start, wasn't it? He wondered how he would be able to explain it, but he did not have time for someone was yelling.

"**FIRE**!"

In the mass of chaos and flames Takuya however knew the source to this havoc, yet he did not know why.

_Daisuke..._

_TBC_

* * *

_(Laughs)_

_I really had no idea how to end this, but so what. It is going in the direction I want it to, and I hope you enjoyed. I guess people are really hooked up in their exams and such, I've received quite a few reviews lately. (sulks) Please review, it's not so hard. And I need to hear opinions to make this fic even better!_

_Shitza_


	7. Fox Fire

_Hi, seems people have gotten stuck on the Month counting (which gave me loads of headaches and work since I had to correct it after the normal times here). Therefor, I am continuing on the subject of months, and always feel free to ask. The month system ain't the most important in the fic, but it helps to see who is strong and who is not. What is so special about one being born then and now. I am not following the series in this. I am sorry to announce that Izumi, who is born during Tisteria, the month of wind, will be younger than Takuya, who is born during Harana, the month of fire. _

_I just noticed as well, once we get to the end, some of you will probably hate me for the bad characters in this fic. The fic is quite easy to write, but since I love to use new and unused ideas know that I have some weird ways to write things. Okay, so far people don't think so, but oh well. In my eyes I am always experimenting. Most often I let the ideas work for about six months to five years before I start typing them. This must be the only exception for ages. And it is one of the most unoriginal ones, since the fic was heavily inspired by "Garden's at Eve"_

**THANK YOU SO MUCH PINK SHIMMER FOR GIVING ME THE CHANCE TO SEE FRONTIER! I DON'T KNOW REALLY HOW TO PAY YOU BACK FOR THIS!**

**Shitza**

_Ps: A little fun facts. In Digimon 02, if anyone remember Davis wonderful noodle cart? The Swedish translation was changed to make it a hot dog stand, however those pictures does not suit. Yet here, with the people who probably did the translation, I have lost count with all the weird ways to serve a hot dog. For example, hot dog with red whortleberry jam. In my words, disgusting. But hearing dad it was good. _

**Chapter 7**

**Fox Fire**

Birth, the beginning of and end. The end of the long cycle of darkness, the beginning of a life in light. Many are never born, because the circumstances doesn't allow it. Others are born even if they were never meant to. Those never make any kind of history, only lock themselves into their empty souls. These normally would become demons, when the time was ready.

In Nemorisa, the month you are born in have a huge importance to history. There are free ways to be born. To be born Elysian, to be born Predictable, or to be born Unfortunately. Elysian born children are very rare. The most common are Predicted births. Unfortunate born children are often spotted before birth, and therefor killed before anything can happen.

So, what does this mean? I'll tell you!

Elysian born children and born in the same Element that their race possess. For example, take a dragon of fire born in the month of fire, Harana. There are about ten dragons of hundreds. The most known of them all are called Taichi, the current leader of all the dragon clans. Why would an Elysian born be so special? Maybe because they are one of few that can communicate with their elements.

A normal or Predictable born creature simply uses the powers the creature he is possess. A few times in history, if they are really powerful, they can overcome and stumble across the powers from the month he was born. Like a Raiki, a creature of thunder, born in Toira, the month of ice who can produce crystals in his palms. But that is very rare. Most Predictable creatures keeps to the powers their creature possess and never tries to grow in strength.

The Unfortunate however are the only ones who aren't born in wrong month or right month. With every village/town/city there is at least one creature that can spot light or darkness. Most of them are either, if one creature is none of these then it becomes unfortunate, not wanted. A witch, wizard or in a few cases, dragon is brought to execute this soul and guard it back to the afterlife, to wait for its turn. It is better than to have a demon being born.

Nemorisa is very good at keeping it in this way. There has only been one known failure. However that failure doesn't remain. The father, a fire dragon, couldn't bare to see his son get killed so he took it to a far away planet. Nemorisa has searched for the child for centuries without success. Many meant that the demonic child was yet alive, and seeking revenge. But the only proof so far was yet only a prophecy. And that one only tells about the six legendary warriors and the rebirth of the world.

So, why do you need to know? That is a question, one of the most common questions. But this time, it is because something is about to happen, that isn't meant to happen. The balance between light and darkness will be heavily disrupted.

* * *

One vampire, a ghost, an Aquila and one Raiki hurried after the sole human in the Nemorisa. Takuya hurried as fast as his feet would carry him to find the dragon. The more they hurried the more flames met them. Halfway both Izumi and Kouji had to retreat to the heat. Kouichi stayed as well, restraining his brother to continue. Kouichi knew his brother would meet his death in those flames and the three of them returned to the cooler areas.

With skin hard as rock Junpei continued, awestruck that the human was still running. Takuya didn't seem to feel the fire, which surprised the Raiki even more. Sparks flew from the Raiki's hands. "**Thunder Fist**!"

Like Izumi,(Kouji and Kouichi), Junpei knew the ancient arts of magic. Junpei came from one of the oldest Raiki families, whose ancestors were none other that Blitz, the biggest and most powerful of all Raiki's known. Izumi had her roots from Zephyr, Kouji from a werewolf, Lobo, (where his grandfather had been bitten later by a vampire, changing the line). Kouichi from Lowe, the twin of Lobo.

But not even his hard skin or the ancient magic within him could help the Raiki to overcome the heat. Feeling how his powers were drained the Raiki had to retreat as well. He arrived outside the gigantic fire, where everyone else had assembled. Izumi hurried over to help him away. The twins were not to be seen. No one knew how many tears a vampire could cry, over love.

Meanwhile...

Flames licked his body, yet neither the skin or the fabric of the clothes caught fire. It was as if he was simply another flame. Another thing he found weird was that he could here a murmur in the back of his head. Twice he turned and still found nothing.

So, why would he not be afraid of fire? There is a tale behind that as well. He was seven when it had happened. A seven year old skinny little boy, whose parents loathed him. One day, when his parents had not been home, someone had put the house on fire. His parents had locked the door before they left, and it was impossible to open. By then he had been afraid, but soon learned not to. The fire had not touched him. He had been a small circle without any flame. It was as if fire cared about him.

Kouji really had no idea about this. Ever since that accident, even though the fire had not killed him, he stayed away from it. But now, there was something he knew was waiting for him. Something he could not put his finger on, yet this feeling came so strong. The more he ran, the more this strange feeling of anticipation overwhelmed him. Suddenly he came to a spot that he could not help but to fall down to his knees. He could almost not breath. This feeling, it was strong. Still it was gentle. It was kind. It didn't hurt him, but what was it?

He put his palms to the ground and took some shaky breaths. Then he looked up again and stumblingly went back to the house they had rested in. To his surprise, like that time the house had been burning when he was seven, this fire stayed away from the house, not touching it. He could hear a roar from inside. He recognized it as well. That roar lay with his memories of this world. A dragon's roar.

The brunette hurried inside to find a most odd scene, yet it was frightening as well. Daisuke lay on the ground, writhing in agony. A dark glow surrounded him. Ken was by his side, half of his concentration was on Daisuke, the other half upon some kind of shadow. The kitsune stared with hatred upon this formless thing. Darkness erupted from the shadow and it was probably what caused the dragons pain.

"Very good, my little dragon. Burn this place to the ground, kill everyone inside and then you are merely as good as this fox you stay with."the shadow said in a hollow empty voice.

"Leave him alone!" Ken barked swinging his arm. A small stream of bluish fire shot from it, the famous fox fire.

The shadow laughed, for the fire did nothing to him. It just went through. A hologram of what it truly was.

"I said **LEAVE HIM!**" Ken cried sending a huge wave of fire at it. The shadow continued laughing for nothing happened to it.

Daisuke screamed, fire spiraling from his body. His body was starting to change to his dragon form. Ken backed and Takuya didn't leave the spot from where he was watching. The dragon changed to the creature and flew out into the sky. Ken was struck in awe, not moving from where he was. The brunette ran out on the street. It had started to rain.

"No!" the brunette said gasping looking at the scenery before him. The whole Magical area was ruined. The houses still smoked as the fire slowly distinguished. The brunette hurried down the road. But as he came to the spot he had left, suddenly a pair of arms grabbed him. No one saw them, but Kouji was crying and he was thanking the Gods that the human was yet alive.

The remainders of the group slowly arrived. Izumi looked a little shaken, but apart from that she seemed perfectly fine. Junpei looked a little burnt around the edges, but he too was (to his own surprise) relieved that the human was alive. Kouichi was unharmed, well, what could really hurt a ghost? His reasons for not having hurried after the human was to keep his brother safe from meeting an early death. Too early death.

Not to far away Ken stood from the group, longingly looking up to the sky. The kitsune sighed deeply, his master's and mistress surrounding him. All three looked as lost as he did. A fifth soul could be heard complaining loudly. Ruki shook her head, taking the small match box, the small prison for a certain Shapeshifter. Ryo grabbed the box, as the witch didn't move to release him. Ruki glared at her partner wizard, but said nothing. Ken was starting to cry and silent tears fell to th ground.

With a blue light Takato reappeared. The Shapeshifter did not look happy. His eyes were burning. Ruki didn't flinch however as the Shapeshifter changed into a red dinosaur like creature, blasting fire at her. The fire was deflected with Ryo waving his wand, making the fire hit a stone instead of Ruki.

"Knock it of, she is not your target." he said. Takato nodded, but he continued looking suspiciously at the witch, who seemed to have lost her ability to speak.

"Would you be a good friend and try to find the dragon that soared away?" Kenta asked. "After all, if you want your fox friend to be free, than this dragon has turned out to be the key to his freedom."

Takato thought for a moment, now back into a more human-like form (which he seemed to like more than anything else.) Then with a flash he became a dragon and soared off.

Kenta turned to the five companions. "I also think Daisuke would be able to explain more about some strange manners. For example..." he said pointing his staff towards Takuya. "You!"

"Me?" the human asked struck in bewilderment.

"Yes, you! Actually, I don't think you are merely just a human. For a mere human, would not live in fire like you do."

Everyone looked surprised at this.

"But... what could I be if I would not be human?" Takuya asked, more to himself, but the wizard heard him anyway.

"I think, since Daisuke knows more about dragon legends, I think he knows the answer to that. For of all creatures in Nemorisa, dragons are known to be the worst to keep to the rules. And to be honest with you all, blood has been mixed in the past, outside these borders."

An eerie silence spread through the group and everyone stared at the brunette. Junpei withdrew and Izumi blinked stupidly. Kouichi swirled around not caring if he floated upside down or if he stood straight. Kouji couldn't take his eyes from the shocked teenager, whose life seemed to be ruined.

"Takuya... I"

Takuya didn't listen, he couldn't hear him. He was caught in his memories, of his childhood. Of the pain, the torture, but still you knew where you belonged. Now, he wondered. Where did he belong? If he really wasn't just human, what was he then? He had never believed he would be this special. He only believed to have been nothing, until he met the twins that is. Oh, this pain in his chest was throbbing and his eyes watered by tears. He stared at his hands, remembering. Remembering when...

**Memory**

_His earliest memory, it came from a happier day. It was before his parents favored his younger brother, it was before his life became hell. It was before his brother had been born. He had been the only child. He had been around the age between 2-3, yes he had a very good memory. Maybe because he always kept to this memory whenever he had felt too lonely. Because he knew that somehow his parents still loved him, even if they never showed it. Once, things had been so different. _

_He could remember it in details. Small details. He had been playing, close to a cupboard. Being very young, and clumsy he accidentally bumped into the cupboard once or twice, making it shake. On the cupboard was a blue vase with lilies, his mother's favorite flowers back then. His mother was in the kitchen preparing some meal. All he remembered from that was a faint smell of food. As he was playing, he suddenly hit the cupboard too hard and the vase fell to the ground. Young and not knowing exactly what he had done he didn't know what to do. But his mother heard and she came out to look what had happened. _

"_Takuya, what have you done?" she asked._

_He could still remember a faint stab in his heart as the tears came. His mother knowing what was happening sighed. Warm arms wrapped him safely from everything he yet had to learn. He felt so safe, for once in his life he was safe. _

"_Moma!" he said. He didn't know if his parents remembered anymore, but that had been the first word he had ever spoken. _

**End Memory**

But then, later Shinya had entered his life. For some reason his little brother didn't like him, and with his brother being born his parents changed towards him. The daily hugs became beatings. The nice words became curses and the love became hatred. He remembered, when he was five, when his parents had been out. When... his by then, best friend, had died.

**Memory**

_It was raining outside, and a tired Takuya sat by his window, crying softly into the silent night. It was flashing outside as the thunder clouds had reached the city, and the more he listened the more the tears ran. Echoing and flashing, his mind was lost in memories of his short life. It would take yet a few years for him to gain new friends. _

_The young boy as he was, he used to have a friend in the house, who supported him in every way with either a lick or a bark. Yes, his best friend had been a small puppy. A small and energetic terrier with wheat colored fur. The little creature had been killed on the road, he too had received beatings. He too had suffered. And the one and only Takuya believed would make it through times like this, had died in his arms. A car had hit him, while his dog Frost had tried to escape from the pain. His father's kicks and his mothers screams. _

_No one cared about his death, except for Takuya. Little Shinya, his brother, hated the dog, cried every time Frost came close to him. His mother had with her youngest son's reactions towards the creature thought to throw him out. His father had the same kind of thought in his head. Only Takuya fought to keep him, and he fought bitterly. _

"_Frost-kun!" he said looking up to the sky. "Aishiteru Frost!"_

_He didn't notice the door opening. He didn't notice that silent footsteps entered his room. He never saw what would happen. Suddenly he heard a crash, looked back to see his little brother under a pile of his stuff that recently had been in the bookcase. Shinya was crying. Right then the door opened, meaning his parents were home. Both dashed up to his room to find this scenery._

_How Shinya managed to hurt himself when he was close, exactly when their parents returned was out of his imagination or logic. _

**End Memory**

The memories flashed before him, torturing his very soul. He could remember Shinya's birth and the first glare he received when the small baby looked at him. He could remember his eight birthday, how his parents had locked him into a small cabinet refusing his rights to live. Then his happier memories came, when Kouichi and Kouji came to his life. A sad turn, when he understood there was no end to the pain, his reason for death. And lastly how he came here, and how it changed him. How he fell in love, and how he would never let go of it. Never.

As the human seemed to be in trance of his memories, a panting Takato came back, flying back with a broken wing as well as several cuts and bruises. The Shapeshifter transformed back to himself still in the air and landed with a thump on the ground.

After the Shapeshifter Daisuke returned, back in his more human form as well. The dragon landed softer on the ground than Takato, and he looked ashamed. Ken however, having been restrained long enough, ran over to his love, claiming the dragon's lips to his. The two wizards smiled, Ruki simply turned away with a frown showing. Yet when no one saw her she would pull that frown to a smile.

Kouji put his hand on the brunette's, dragging him closer to an unnoticed kiss. Unnoticed since everyone had taken their attention towards the other pair of lovers. Unnoticed, but not for eternity. Izumi turned her head to smack a fly ad saw them together. She smiled and turned back, blushing slightly. Like it hadn't been obvious for long? But vampires could be stubborn creatures when they wanted to.

But even though Takuya couldn't help to praise this moment, his mind was still racing, and thus so was Kouji's of the same reason. If Takuya wasn't merely just a human, then what would he be?

* * *

The weather started to grow in strength. The witches and wizards gathered together under shields to save the little that was left of their beloved life. Ryo had taken a few of the wizards with him, to scout and search for food and such. Kenta sat together with the elderly wizards discussing the situation. Ruki coughed, sitting by the fire drinking some kind of greenish medicine. Her whole body was soak, since the rain and winds had grown so cold.

The five travelers shared two tenths together. Kouji and Takuya had one. Izumi did not look happy that Junpei would be sharing with her, and the Raiki had to be constantly reminded about her knife ad fierce nature. Kouichi was thrown out from the tenth. The ghost pouted and proceeded to find somewhere else to haunt. He did not look very happy, but it had been all four against him. The ghost had a weird sense of humor to wake you up at night. He was far from a Poltergeist, yet he loved to play tricks on you. And he was definitely no Phantom, Soul collector, Shadow or anything of the sort.

Takuya was helping some younger wizards to fish when Daisuke walked up to him. It had been long since the dragon returned, and when the wizards had asked him to share some knowledge the dragon said he needed to find some more proof, for he had his own theories. He simply needed one test, and for that test he made sure nothing would go wrong.

"Takuya!" he said walking up to the brunette standing in the water. Takuya looked up, loosing concentration upon the fish in his hands, a fish that managed to wriggle free from his grasp.

"Come with me!"

Takuya obliged, walking up from the river to follow the dragon to a small clearing. A place shielded with various spells.

"Takuya, you are probably aware of this situation. It is obvious you are not merely a human, which could explain a lot about the things going on. Yet, no one denies that you have dominant human blood in your veins. However..."

The brunette did not like the way Daisuke spoke. The dragon had a harsh slow tone that made the hair on his head stand on edge. The dragon was dressed in black, with his wings stretched. A red glow seemed to surround him, something Takuya had never noticed before.

"... due to this new facts, no one in this world will stay safe. You carry a huge responsibility on your shoulders. We have no idea what kin of creature dwells in your blood. It can be bad, it can be good. But since you have proved to have a certain understanding to the element of fire I have my suspicions."

The dragon took a scroll, hidden in the black robe. Takuya flinched catching the scroll before it fell to the ground. The scroll felt warm in his hands, it glowed in a bright white light. Little did he knew he was flowing as well, in a blood red light. Daisuke's eyes widened, for all the signs lay now clear before him. Memories flowed in his mind, about what his mother had told him. That he was destined to find the Warrior of their race. The "human" had no idea what the dragon knew, and that was good. If he had he might have backed of, for his future...

Suddenly Takuya noticed that the scroll started to burn. Panicking he tried to let go, but without success. The fire spread covering his body, and a voice awakened in the back of his head.

"_Don't be afraid. I've been waiting to meet you, oh Great One. You have a brave heart and soul, will fulfill your destiny with glamor. But be warned, the darkness carries many faces. You must find the warriors and bring them to the Dragon Dale. Or else, this world and all worlds will be doomed. The Darkness has been watching you all this time, it is time to awake your powers. It is time to fight back."_

"So I see." Daisuke said, relieved that his theories had been correct and the dragon smiled warmly. "It turns out that the prophecies never fail. I welcome you, lord and master over fire. The fire that due to my ancestors' tales would come from another world to awaken the old magic and heal this world from darkness. Hail you Takuya, Oh mighty _Dragon Lord..._

_TBC_

_Muahahaha... Ok, just joking. I guess this was kind of expected after all. I've already had tons of reviews asking if Takuya would be a fire element. Well, to everyone who asked, begged and guessed, here it was. Now, I better go back to write on other things, and to post the probably last chapter of Digital Elements. If anyone reads it, then Gomen, Gomen, but it has been weeks since I last wrote on it and to be honest, the rest would be as awful it is not worth putting on pages. No, I'd rather concentrate to work on this. As it is, school takes most of my time, I probably stay up too late and so on... blah blah blah... I hope you people review. I also hope to update again before Christmas. But we are far from finished with the Christmas. _

_Till then, have fun! I'll send back to review responses to the people who reviewed, THANK YOU!_

_Shitza_


	8. Destiny Unfolded

_Merry Christmas everyone! I am back with the next chapter, which has some interesting turns and twists, as well as facts and such. With a typical Shitza style... I can probably never write a fic without throwing in some kind of prophecy. (shakes head) _

_Oh well, I don't think you will be saddened. _

_Yet, the horror will be. This chapter contains very little romance. It's a weird chapter, yet pretty useful. Involves a new entry, but who I will not speak of. _

_Fun Facts: Episode 47, when Chocomon(baby form of Cherubimon) and Nyaramon(baby form of Orphanimon) hatch the first shots show Nyaramon (to the left) and Chocomon (to the right) in a white glow, before they become rookies. However it is Chocomon who evolves into Salamon and Nyaramon who evolves into Lopmon. Yet in the evolution line Ophanimon evolves from Nyaramon-Salamon-Gatomon-Angewomon-Ophanimon. And Cherubimon evolves from Chocomon-Lopmon-Antylamon-Cherubimon. _

**Chapter 8  
Destiny Unfolded**

_Legend of the Demon_

_taken from Epistula Ignis- Kouichi's copy  
written about a hundred years after the actual war._

_It was the start of a new Era, it was the victory over darkness. Or the evil darkness, because darkness could also mean the balance of light and therefrom be one simple good thing. Darkness can also as well be the destruction of light, therefor creatures born in Chuisa are rare. Chuisa, being the month of darkness is a sad episode in these strange lands. It can also be called the most dangerous one as the lands are weakened by the throttling darkness and children born now rarely survive. You would think that in a world with millions maybe billions of creatures births would be rather common. Don't fool yourselves. In a world with all this magic many creatures are born of magic, never said to be born by any specific element. They are also incredible stupid or too weak to survive for long. (The best example to put on that you would know of is the pumpkin lady Takuya encountered coming to this world. She is one of a kind and works as a servant for her lords, not really knowing exactly what she does. You would say it is sad, but she doesn't mind. She has nothing more then a body of earth and that pumpkin. However both twins have always cared for her in their way.) Not to count many creatures are already dead, or immortal. Which means the need to reincarnate isn't prioritized. _

_Now with this war gone, with this world cleared from all demons, life slowly went back to normal. Or so everyone believed, really something more was around the bend. For darkness had more to store. And during the next Chuisa, the year after the victory of Light, it managed to infiltrate a woman with its seed. A black thorn of hate and darkness. Little did this creature know what was happening, and the father didn't care being happy as it was. This soon-to-be-father, one of the creatures who had helped defeating this darkness, never noticed what was growing under his nose. For this father had grown famous due to his hard work together with Lobo, the werewolf that possessed the secret of Light, Lowe, the lion-man that protected the pure Darkness, Zephyr and her little sister Kaze, the sisters of Wind fairies and Aquilas that traveled with wind, Kuma and Chak, two MistHimi twins that lived in the cold ice, Bolg and Blitz, two of the most magnificent Raikis this world had spotted, Grumble, the troll who in the end of the war sacrificed his life to save the Earth, Rana, the mermaid of the sea that cleansed the waters and also drowned in darkness, Arbor, the guardian of Wood who was kill a month later by his own favorite tree and lastly Mercury,a wizard that used his last strength to give this world something to live for. The ten elements combined had been the key to make sure those vile creatures wouldn't escape for centuries to come. _

_Darkness once more grew to this world, and when finally the little dragon boy was born, to his fathers horror Aguni could see the signs from the start. His child was as dark as the darkness he had fought. His own son had become one of the corrupted ones. He was one of the unfortunate. But with his warm and brave heart the Fire Dragon who possessed the deepest secrets of them all, not let his son die. The same night he was born the fire Dragon flew into the night, carrying his son to another world. He came to the only place he knew no one would go and search for him, the human Earth. The dragon, having taken his dragon form, landed in a wood, there transformed into a human body, yet he could never hie the wings on his back. He shielded them with a thick cloak and raised his son far from prying eyes. When his son was able to walk he was taken to the world to see it. Father and son became known as the wandering Gray, for gray was the color of their cloaks. For humans they were nothing else then wanderers who sometimes stopped to sometimes beg for some food or money. People most often helped them since he had a son to take care of, and people who saw them saw that most of everything went to the young boy. The man was a word of honor. _

_Yet as the boy grew older, and the search soon ended in Nemorisa as they had presumed that the demon and dragon were dead, life seemed to become peaceful. But one day, when the boy, now a young man around fifteen, wandered around, he saw something soar up to the sky. It was a dragon, a fire dragon like his father. The boy grew curious and having wings of his own he followed. The other dragon stopped when it reached a gate to another world and walked in to it. The young boy tried to follow, yet with all the darkness within his body he could not. He was thrown out. _

_Being unfortunate doesn't have to mean you are evil to start with, yet darkness more easily can penetrate you. Yes, those who are unfortunate are called demons being as close to a shadow-like demon as you could possible get. Malice and hunger grew within his soul and penetrated every single thought. He wanted to see what was on the other side, but every time he found a gate, which was not often and took a lot of work, he was tossed out at once. Hate grew in him and he started to hate these creatures that could travel between the worlds. _

_The two worlds would have received peace and this demon could probably have killed himself over his own despair. If only not his father had told him about which world he truly came from. In anger and in the name of a new world the demon swore to make, he ripped his father and fled. He was never seen again, only said: "I will be back, and when I am back you will regret this! The two worlds belong to me, and solely me!"_

_Close top death, desperate to warn everyone,Aguni managed to open a gate home to Nemorisa. He was in luck as he appeared close to his old friend (and once lover) Lobo. He died in the arms of the wolf he had always loved. The two of them swore to be together, which is also why Lobo probably followed his love a few years later, being killed in war. The last chapters of this story can be summered with the fact that the remaining four warriors of Wind, Darkness, Ice and Thunder combined their powers for a cause unknown. This caused them to drain themselves to a peaceful sleep... of eternity. _

* * *

"Hail you Takuya, oh Mighty Dragon Lord!" Daisuke said smiling. The dragon got down to his knees and bowed. Takuya was shocked and didn't know what to do really. Daisuke laughed softly, noticing the confusedness in the human-dragon's eyes. Indeed Takuya could not understand anything about this. He couldn't be a dragon, like Daisuke here claimed him to be. Why and how could he be a dragon? He couldn't see how? He couldn't see why? Yet an annoying little voice in the back of his head, the same voice that had spoken to him only a minute ago, told him. It was all in order and no matter if he liked it or not.

Probably was that the last straw for Takuya. The brunette, the newfound dragon-lord sank down to his knees in a sort of beautiful defeat. Even if his life upon Earth had not been so joyful, he still could not deny that he greatly missed to have somewhere to call home. Now he wondered what his home was, where his home should be. Knowing now what he was he could not know where he should go, now that he had a reason to belong to Nemorisa. A part of him was indeed happy though, even if the thought scared him greatly, yet a small part couldn't help but to miss home.

Daisuke seemed to understand him. The scroll that Takuya had been given had burnt down to a small pile of ash that now lay forgotten on the ground. Carefully Daisuke wrapped his arm around the other brunette and hugged him soothingly. Takuya, not so sure of himself and confused, silently wept into Daisuke's shoulder. Daisuke quietly hushed him. The dragon started to sing a lullaby, which worked. Takuya's eyelids grew heavy and slowly the young human dowsed into sleep. Daisuke took a thin red cloak from his pocket and lay it over the sleeping brunette. Then he left to find the vampire, who he knew shared something special with this human, and to send some instructions over to the other dragons.

This is what he wrote to his cousin...

_Taichi_

_Sorry I am for not writing for long, my heart has found peace and happiness.  
Yet, to keep duties of leadership I will and am. Bravery fight darkness._

_You will not believe, what I have to say.  
It came as a shock to discover.  
__The laws of old, broken they were.  
__Yet not without yet another cover.  
__One of the mortal, fragile and plain  
__A human entered this world.  
__Yet he turned out to be more then pain  
__He turns out to be one of us.  
__The scroll of ancients responded to his touch  
__It burned yet did not hurt him.  
__Ancient magic awoke to his hand.  
__Curse the darkness is returning to this land.  
__I'll try to bring him as soon as I can._

_Daisuke_

* * *

It was a silent group that left the ruined magical town a day later. Before they left Daisuke gave them instructions to follow the trail to his home land, the Dragon Mountain, and a map over Nemorisa and the five holy continents. Both Kouji and Kouichi had reluctantly once been there, and the dragon reassured him that more people would be able to help him, only if they said Takuya wasn't entirely a human. The dragon laughed imagined his own cousin's expression if he would meet a human. Taichi was brave and yes, he would probably have the courage to confront one. But with everything Takuya had done with him once they had crossed paths his cousin took the old legends even more seriously.

Daisuke had to stay to rearrange things for Ken's freedom. He however was pretty sure they wouldn't have an impossible task ahead thinking of what kind of group they traveled as. All five carried ancient magic, however Takuya hadn't started to use his yet. But still, having four creatures who all could use powerful magic was more than enough for protection. At least... it was really what he hoped.

Izumi flew ahead, happy to once again stretch her wings. The Aquila would scout ahead, making sure nothing serious would get in their way. She was highly suspicious about their surroundings. They had also been given horses, Takuya. Kouichi had shaken his head saying he did not want to explore the inside of a horse once he fell down, all though he knew he would not be able to see anything at all without light. Junpei was running and being such a strange and enormous creature that he was, he didn't even sweat. And who in the whole wide world would dare to give a vampire, a pure blood sucker, a horse? When Kouji wasn't walking he joined Izumi in flying. It was easier that way.

An extra horse was brought to carry most of the food and it became Kouichi's job to keep an eye on it. Even if the ghost did not eat, Izumi in particular made it clear that if he did not, then he would find himself in the closest cyclone within seconds. A roller-coaster he knew he could do well without.

The five of them entered one of the probably gloomiest places they had ever seen. According to the map Daisuke had given them this place was called Urei Forest, a sole dark forest that would give them a five days shorter travel to the MistHimi nest. According to Kouichi, he had some friends he wanted to join as well, now that they had found five of the wielders of ancient magic, Kouichi knew the sixth and last one. He had heard rumors about one during their stay at the Magical place. Even though rumors never told half the truth, it was worth to check. With all the strange and mysterious things going on, having placed two and two together the ghost had received a fairly good point at everything that was going on, all though he could not prove his theories.

"Don't worry, we will be there in no time!" Junpei said happily. The Raiki was very optimistic about these matters. Izumi shook her head walking beside everyone else. The girls seemed furious about the leaves and twigs in her hair. Kouji was leading Takuya's horse, trying to ignore the feelings about biting it. It was an animal after all, and how horses had ended up in Nemorisa hardly anyone knew? They suspected some witches must have brought some with them when they returned from Earth.

Their first day didn't turn out too bad. Their moods were pretty bright, even though the whole place was covered in darkness. Kouichi, who seemed to enjoy himself being in the pure darkness, was humming songs and telling jokes. However as the hours tickled pass, the hours grew longer and longer, their moods fell. After just three days they stopped talking with each other. Pictures and illusions formed before their eyes. Izumi for example found herself back at her home and as soon as the picture disappeared she was crying loudly. Junpei received flashes of his mountain and tears streamed down his cheeks thinking about home. Takuya received flashes and heard voices from the time his father used to beat him. Even Kouji suffered. The vampire had to relive some of the darker aspects of his life, something he buried deep within his heart.

Kouichi tried to lighten the mood, with little success. People snapped, jeered and told him to shut up. He was happy to be a ghost for once, as pieces of rocks and branches was thrown at him whenever he opened his mouth to speak. To his horror he realized there had to be some dormant magic on these lands changing his friends. Why would he be unaffected? Maybe because once the blood of Lowe had run through his veins, at least by the time he had had a body. Unusual as it may seem, when the two twins had been born the blood between their ancestors Lobo and Lowe had never been mixed. Clear signs from the stars and the sun told that his brother had inherited Lobo's blood while he received Lowe's. It was very unusual for blood to split this equally, but apparently it had. Maybe because they inherited so strong magic, it could never clash together. Yet, it created another bond. Not simply just a twin-twin bond. This was the Yin Yang, the perfect balance.

The fourth night during their walk they set camp close to a black river. With this strange darkness even the moon looked gloomy. Takuya sighed making the fire with two sticks together. However after several attempts he was close upon giving up when suddenly a small blaze shot from his finger lighting the dry leaves. Yet however, his new ability seemed to grow within him. Ever since the first fire had started to burn from him, his powers had escaped and were growing. They still only came whenever he was scared or angry. If not then he looked like any human being.

The brunette lay down beside Kouji and gently fell asleep. The vampire eyed his love for a moment before shifting closer, laying one arm around the brunette's waist and fell asleep as well. Kouichi smiled. It was a cute scenery he hoped would last forever. His brother had been so cold before the two of them had gotten together. Kouichi hoped this would last forever.

The lonesome ghost floated around checking so that everything was Okay. Izumi hung upside down in one of the trees, almost like a bat, with her wings folded close to her. Junpei seemed to have disappeared, until Kouichi discovered a weird looking rock, which explained the matters. Raiki's slept like rocks, literally their stone bodies became rocks in their sleep. The ghost was yet again alone.

Little did the ghost except something would indeed happen. The wind gently rustled the leaves and the dust blew from the ground. Nothing seemed strange at first, until he saw the trees moving. The ghost was about to awake everyone else when suddenly someone came from behind, muffling his hand with one of those anti ghost spells he truly hated. Instead the poor ghost froze in air. Something dragged him away. All that was left, was a trail of flower petals. Pink petals.

* * *

Kouji woke up with a start, trembling terribly. It was as if he had been drowned in complete darkness, killing his light. Perhaps it was just the influence from this gloomy place, but he feared the worst. He looked around quickly and yes indeed something had happened.

"Kouichi!" he said loudly. "KOUICIIII!" he tried screaming. His voice woke Takuya, who was slowly waking up.

Izumi and Junpei woke up as well. Izumi eyed the vampire, her gold blond hair almost touching the ground. Junpei was shaking his body to function again.

"Kouji, what are you yelling for?" Takuya asked rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The vampire was pale, paler then usual. You could almost see the blood beneath his skin. The very scene scared hell out of Takuya.

"Kouichi, he is gone!" Kouji said silently. Takuya now shook wide awake. "WHAT!"

Izumi was also shocked and dropped down from the branch she hung on, with a loud thud. Junpei went to examine the place around, and indeed it was easy to follow. A trail of fresh pink petals lying as a small trail away from their camp. The Raiki signed for them all to follow him. Takuya took the horses and they set of, to find a ghost that was indeed in trouble. But not the kind of trouble they all believed in. No, it was far more worse then that...

_It was..._

_TBC_

_perhaps after Christmas, if not this will continue after New Year. If I don't see you till then, then Happy New Year as well. _


	9. Flower Power and Ice Mountain

_Hi, sorry for taking time. All though I think everyone has been busy. I was gone during New Year, a few days with a bunch of friends. Great fun, except for the fact I couldn't get to sleep the next day after. Been up pretty long..._

_To make up for all people waiting, this is a super long chapter, which I hope you all will enjoy! Indeed, it was really hard to know when to stop writing. _

_This is a chapter that features loads of the good old attacks, loads of angst as well as some pieces of romance and humor. Ask yourselves... is Kouichi really just an innocent ghost? I don't think so. I know a lot about the ghost Kouichi, and girls... lock your doors and seal them with some anti-plasma shields. This is a ghost you don't play with. _

**Chapter 9**

**Flower Power and Ice Mountain**

We have truly entered this story, there are many things to learn as well as many things to teach. Yet, to understand some facts about this chapter, let us go back two hundred years, or more, to the celebrated Jija, the day of calamity. It was when two twins were born, and what their destiny would show.

Jija, for some unknown reason it always rains and storm during this day, and over two hundred years ago there was no difference in the weather. Yet, no matter the storming clouds or the thunder. The slight differences of sounds came from the dark and gloomy vampire castle outside the huge and marvelous city.

In one of the rooms, a woman lay in bed breathing heavily. Or was she really a woman? I cannot say so, with sharp fangs and black hair, sharp claw-like nails and the faint smell of blood... she was the wife of the vampire. Yet, being vampire or not could not change her situation. On this day of Jija, when the people outside celebrated she lay awaiting the birth of her child. Or rather her children, she could smell two hearts more than her own.

Around four on the afternoon it finally came. Two screams filled the air around the castle. A pair of twins, one being the sun, the other the moon. The first born, which the local witches and wizards could predict, would be the ruler of the night, the creature of darkness and awaken the old meanings of darkness that slowly had bee forgotten. The second born, the youngest, would be the knight of light, a creature of the sun. He would bring back the old fire and help him to rediscover the old magic that no one knew more about, then the aspect that it was ancient.

Kouichi, was the name of the first child, Kouji became the youngest. But with their birth the lands turned wilder, and rumors about the unknown darkness started to spread. They said that the demons were slowly moving for war, which seemed impossible, but yet everyone said so.

And they did not change, not for the coming fifty years or more. By that time, the twins grew. They were still as alike as cherries, yet cherries do have their slight differences. Kouichi was the energetic, mischievous and clever brother. Kouji was more calm and collected and became the one to help his brother out from the more embarrassing moments. As the 19th century continued, for they grew up during a time of industrial revolution and yes, they experienced a lot in the different cultural years. For even though Nemorisa lies far far away, the creatures that returns from their travel upon Earth bring back the culture.

Yet, what is the point of telling all of this? Just one moment, for we are getting to the more important facts about this story.

Fifty is the age when the vampire becomes of-age. When the twins became fifty, their true differences started to show. Their mother and father learned how difficult it would be, for as the two of them started to explore the world, they learned a lot about new things and met new creatures. Really, they still aren't finished with this period of life, all though Kouji is probably closer to settle down than his energetic brother. Indeed, there is a reason why the older of the brothers are yet alive. And that will be... girls...

This is kept as a secret, yet Kouichi used to have a weak spot for girls and the day he was allowed to enter the real world Kouji barely saw his brother, unless he landed into trouble. The elder twin chased skirts, snuggled up to the ladies. He loved the challenges, which is how he met many royalties, and is also the main reason why he hated to go back to the Aquila Mountain. (A small encounter with Izumi) Izumi acts like she has forgotten, mainly since he's a ghost these days and she feels bad for this.

It was his love for women that let him stay, as well as the love for his brother. Too many emotions clashed in his soul, when it departed to the afterlife that it, connected with the plasma around, made him a ghost. A shell of his former self.

Since after, Kouichi has calmed down as well, even though he is still mischievous like hell. But how many females in Nemorisa doesn't remember the Vampire of Darkness that haunted their dreams? Only time can tell.

* * *

Petals... petals was the key to solve this problem. Yet no matter how much Kouji thought about it he did not understand. He couldn't see what someone wanted to do with a ghost. He could not see why someone did such efforts to kidnap a ghost and leave such a trail behind him?

Izumi was flying ahead, trying to keep watch for eventual traps. Judging by the angry female voice they could hear coming from somewhere she had to be stuck with something.

"Plasma Pods!"

A beam of red light shot up from the trees before them. "That is ancient magic!" Junpei said hurrying to get there. Kouji and Takuya hurried as well. They knew Izumi had used that move once before, trying to fend of Daisuke in his dragon shape.

Thankfully for Izumi, she was not far away from them when they entered this trap. And luckily both Kouji and Junpei knew some of their ancient magic for as it seemed great vines had sprouted from nowhere attacking the poor Aquila, bringing her down to the ground. The vines were alive and Izumi was beaten to the ground, currently unconscious.

"Izumi!" Takuya said retreating back as the vines tried to snatch him as well. Junpei had thrown himself out for this game, sparks flying from him. The Raiki used the legendary "Lightning Blitz!" to try and fend of the vines, yet the more he tried the less results he received. The vines were tricky, the simply retreated back to the Earth, simply to attack from somewhere else. Kouji shielded Takuya the best he could.

"This is not working!" he said through gritted teeth. Blood pounded in his ears, making him close to deaf. Concentrating his right arms started to glow. He stretched it towards his right, something appeared in his hand. For Takuya it looked like one of those swords you saw in Star Wars or something.

_'Ancestor, give me power to defeat this violence. Lend me the strength to defend the one I love.'_ he prayed silently.

"Lobo Kendo!"

The Light sword cut through the vines as if they were made of nothing. Takuya was shocked, not only by the magic but also by Kouji's complete mastered fighting style. Vine after vine fell to the ground, and withered apart like stones becoming sand in an instance.

Slowly the battle turned and Takuya hurried to wake Izumi, which he succeeded with after some painful attempts involving sharp nails he hadn't noticed before. Izumi behaved like an angry bird. But at least she woke up, being furious and not in the mood. It took him a few minutes to direct her to where she really was and once it happened it became clear that three of them could fight of these kinds of things. However it had looked bad for a while.

"Hurricane Wind!"

A whirlwind blasted down on the vines, cutting them to pieces.

"Thunder Fist!"

Junpei's fist connected to the vine, remaking it to molecules.

"Howling Laser!"

Light connected in Kouji's hand and shot towards the vines, cutting them.

Unbelievably enough they won. The last of the vines fell and disappeared. Takuya walked up to them, feeling quite useless himself. But he wasn't quite sure how he could control his magic. Daisuke had given him a few pointers to think about before they departed, but it wasn't much.

"Let's go!" Kouji said leading the way this time. Izumi simply refused to scout ahead for the next obstacle. It didn't bother anyone, for they all understood her. The search had to continue, yet no one was prepared for the next thing to happen.

Nothing could give away the odd behavior of animals, not even the scent of blood.

Takuya's horse suddenly behaved oddly, and before they knew it it went into a rampage. The human was shocked as the others slowly disappeared behind him running to catch up. And before he knew it, the horse threw him off.

He landed in a pile of old wet leaves. He wasn't happy seeing his horse disappear in the distance. He was about to call it back, when suddenly he thought he heard voices. Out of curiosity he hurried to find out more about it. For some seconds he thought about telling the others, but threw away the thought. Instead, knowing Kouji would be able to scent his blood from miles away he deliberately cut himself on a bush of thorns and hurried to find the source of the voices. Kouji would follow him thanks to the blood scent. Running through the mass of trees he soon found it. One he could clearly figure out to whom he belonged. Kouichi seemed frightened, of some reason really frightened.

The other belonged to a female and if Takuya had to say it was a beautiful voice. It reminded him about a field filled with blooming flowers. With birds playing in the dew. Sneaking to find out what was going on he saw more petals, and soon saw a creature he could never imagine seeing before.

At the first sighed she looked like a mass of flowers, but if you looked closer you saw she was not. Her hair was reddish brown, held with pink petals that danced down to her feet. (it explained the trail they were following). She wasn't wearing any clothes, she did not need to as flowers bloomed on her body, covering her from top to toe. But there was also something sad about her, like a flower ready to die. Like the rose that had given up on life.

Kouichi was whimpering. The ghost had been bound to a tree, enchanted vines holding him there.

"Don't worry dewdrop. I am almost finished!"the flower girl said. She stood by a black cauldron adding flower petals into some kind of potion.

Takuya froze. What was she doing? He had no clue, until just out of luck, Kouichi gave him the hints.

"Mimi, please! I am dead since years ago. You cannot possibly give a ghost back his body. That is against the laws of our very existence."

The flower, Mimi, shook her head, more petals falling from it. "I have no choice. You gave me your heart on a platter and I took it. You died and could never return to me. I want us to be together. With this potion, like the one the witches created me of, I will create you an aged body and now that the flowers are all dying, we will die together."

Takuya's eyes widened. _Kill Kouichi, was that even possible?_

"I didn't die because I hated you..." Kouichi continued. "I mean, even if you are alone and one of a kind creature, I was stupid back then. I hit on every single female that crossed my mind. I only realized what I really have done after I died, and I would not really be surprised if the person who bushed me to the sunlight would be one of those ghosts."

Mimi did not listen. She had stopped listening and was fully concentrating on getting the potion ready.

Suddenly a hand grabbed Takuya from behind, and another hand held his mouth so only mumbled protests could be heard.

"Be quiet!" Kouji said. Takuya relaxed seeing it was his love that had arrived. Kouji gave him a smile. It had been a clever idea to use blood to lead him to this place. The vampire watched the scene before them as the flower girl finished her potion.

"Lowe protect me!" Kouichi cried as the flowery girl filled a goblet of the liquid and poured it down his throat. Unlike the times Kouichi drank or ate, this didn't pass through him. Takuya made a movement to go and help, yet Kouji stopped him. The vampire shook his head, Takuya was bewildered. He did not understand a thing. Kouichi was Kouji's twin brother. Why shouldn't he go and help?

Mimi seemed to be quite happy once Kouichi had taken all of the potion yet her happiness turned to astonishment. For as it seemed Kouichi did not retrieve his body Instead he started to glow, a dark glow surrounded him. Ghostly hands appeared from the ground wrapping around the girl's wrists and ankles. Mimi screamed, her voice sounding like a banshee. Takuya had a feeling Kouji knew this would happen all along, and the vampire seemed quite pleased. Sometimes Takuya had to say that Kouji could be frightening.

The vines that held Kouichi suddenly withered and fell to the ground, like a pile of ash it all disappeared flying into the trees. For a split second Takuya saw what once had been the vampire, which now was a ghost. Like a flashback on the very essence of what was left of him. Kouichi's hair had been longer, looking very much like Kouji. Indeed if he had stayed like this before he died you would not be able to see any difference between them. His fangs must have disappeared when he became a ghost, for the soul did not keep these creature like appearances. He had wings on his back, black bat wings.

Yet this was not Kouichi's memory, it was Mimi's memory of the vampire she had fallen in love with, and therefrom promised herself she would receive. Yet her time was up, and rapidly the last of the petals fell from her head. Her face ashed, she became a pile of ash, a single gold seed landed on the top of the pile.

The darkness around Kouichi disappeared. The ghost stared at the pile of the dead flower and sighed. All the once pink petals had turned into brown crisps. Slowly he picked up the seed that was left, it would be a shame to let her rest at such a sorrowful place.

"I am sorry!" was all Kouichi had to say to the girl before he happily returned to the others.

* * *

The moon is an extraordinary sight when the mist lies thick above you. Now Kouji had taken the lead. Takuya, now without a horse, walked beside him. The brunette held the gold seed in his pocket, he wasn't sure why but he felt bad for the flower that had died. Kouichi felt the same, if not worst. The pain of the memories of girls he had haunted, sometimes it tried to tear him apart.

The ghost looked over at Izumi, one of hi earlier targets. Indeed he had haunted this female as well. It was incredible that she did not hate him. Yet Aquilas did not think like that, at least not the females. It was her father that hated him, not she. She simply felt bad for him. And she was far more understanding that he could have believed.

The other thing was, as soon as the flower Mimi had been vanquished, the mists and fog around the forest seemed to disappear. This did not have to mean anything, as they discovered by midnight, when they were still walking, that they had reached the end of the forest. They walked a little while longer before they set camp. Kouichi, like always, took the guard, this time being promised some extra help from the others. It was agreed that one by one they would have to accompany him if anything like this happened again. At least for some nights till Kouichi could relax again.

Izumi took the first guard. The two of them sat for an hour talking about old memories from the Aquila Mountain. Next Junpei kept him company, and he showed of with some rocky tricks he had learned up in the mountains. Kouji stayed up as well, and the two brothers talked the longest. Kouji wondered how his brother felt after all this. After all, Kouichi was a lot more sensitive then him.

Lastly it became Takuya's turn to keep watch. Kouji woke him up shaking him softly, murmuring something to his ear. Whatever he said it made the brunette blush furiously and hurry to get up, to let Kouji get some sleep as well. The brunette looked around, chuckling seeing Izumi hang upside down and stumbling over Junpei, not seeing him at all. Kouichi sat down by the fire, followed by Takuya. At first they were silent, Takuya still blushing to what Kouji had said. The brunette looked over at the sleeping vampire. Kouji looked so innocent and peaceful asleep, far from his usual self.

"He didn't look like that all the time!" Kouichi said sadly. Takuya turned to the ghost. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"When we were younger, I was always caught up in trouble from all kinds of weird corners of this world. Kouji was always there to help me. But I guess, that never allowed him to discover his own purpose and all he did was to fight. When I was a vampire, long ago, almost two hundred years back, I was not the best and I had a real weak spot for females. Not to mate, or anything like that, more like I liked the challenges of finding one, flirting with her and the mysteriously disappear. I loved to hurt them. You can see the consequences, some are still mad at me, ghost or not."

"What does mating mean?" Takuya asked.

Kouichi blushed. "Vampires don't marry each other like upon Earth. When a vampire decides to settle he takes a mate, like wife. There is a special ritual around the mating process and well... I think Kouji will eventually tell you all about it so I should not go on about the details. One day, you will find out."

Takuya sighed. He had a feeling Kouji would tell him about this one day and that it would be something that did not comply with him.

"Takuya... when we were back with the witches, right before we left them actually, Kouji told me about something which I still cannot understand. About you, not truly being human but something else. A dragon... Am I right, or am I wrong?"

Takuya sighed. "Daisuke gave me this scroll, it started to burn when I held it. I don't know why and I don't want anything to do with it really. But Daisuke said, something about me being a Dragon Lord and he bowed before me. But, I cannot be a dragon, I don't even have..."

"Wings?" Kouichi suggested. The ghost suddenly started to laugh. "Takuya, you've been in this world for a few weeks and you already believe to know everything. Trust me, you can live here for a million years and still not know a single thing. Nemorisa is as unpredictable as the weather on the coast. You think you know what will happen, and yet things comes and goes in another pace you thought you predicted. The easiest signs you can follow will be the small ones, not the instruments. Like farmers can find the signs upon the animals or the nature, we here find the small signs and follow those paths. Even the best sightseer may be wrong, most often they are wrong when they say something will happen at exactly at that time. What most people do is that they take clues before them, and that is particularly what all dragons do. Daisuke being a dragon of society has always believed in legends, yet don't believe a sightseer when she or he speaks of time. He kept that scroll for years testing it. So don't come say anything when you don't know what you are talking about."

"But..." Takuya started to protest, yet Kouichi hushed him.

"No buts. Takuya, a dragon doesn't have to show wings, not especially at your age. Most dragons grows wings when they are, at least six hundred years older then you. Daisuke may not look like it, but he is already 746 years old. His oldest cousin Taichi is over a thousand years old and has lead the dragon clan for decades. If you meet a young dragon you cannot set them apart from humans, except for one thing. Dragons can produce fire magic, humans can't. I cannot believe I didn't think about this earlier but now everything makes sense."

"It doesn't, it doesn't explain why a human becomes a dragon over a night."

Kouichi shook his head. "You did not listen properly. What Daisuke tried to say, what I am saying now. There is a dragon ancestor in your past that provided you with his blood. Dragon blood can dominate human blood easily once the truth is told and yet it brings out an even more dangerous topic. Dragons are far banded from mating humans, something in history went very wrong."

After this the ghost became quiet, deep in thoughts. Takuya did not understand and yet he did not like the sound of this. The facts about being a dragon scared him, and he had never been prepared for this. To his astonishment, all though he knew this happened on occasion, a small flame started to dance between his fingers. Shocked he jumped back, the flame jumping into the fire.

"You should really practice on controlling your magic. It will do us no good if you keep producing those kinds of flames." Kouichi pointed out.

"I really can't control them!" Takuya said staring at his hands. It has been like this, ever since I was a small boy. Fire has never hurt me."

"And yet you try to ignore that you are a dragon. Takuya, this proves more then one thing that you are born as a fire creature, as well as you are born in Harana."

"If I tried to go back to my old life, nothing would be the same knowing this. Kouichi, is there any way for me to learn how to control my fires? I don't want to hurt anyone, especially not Kouji. And I have a feeling he does not possess any powers to protect himself against fire, do he?" the human-dragon boy asked worriedly.

"No, he does not..." Kouichi said. "Kouji's strongest weakness happens to be fire, which perhaps will be your duty to protect him from fire. Light and Fire aren't the same thing, they are connected, as well as Darkness and Light are connected. They balance each other. Light does not exists without its burning fire, and fire would be no fire without light. The best for all the worlds, not only ours, would be if the ten elements worked together, yet that will probably be one of the hardest things to do. For back in time, where the Prophecies starts, four of the elements, or the ones who could bend them to their will, died. They never left any to inherit their powers."

"So, the worlds will fall. I have no idea really where we are heading or what our purpose is."

"Darkness hides in all shapes and figures." Kouichi said. "Ever since I became a ghost I have learned for these years that you cannot trust anyone, and yet you must. Sometimes it is better to trust just yourselves, and sometimes you know you can't."

Takuya sighed and yawned widely. It was growing late. Kouichi smiled.

"You should get some rest then. Make Junpei take the last hour, he needs to move around a lot before he can function properly. The very pain with bringing him along."

Takuya slowly nodded. "Just one more thing. All of you know how to use the old magic. Do you think I can learn as well, at least to control the fires I have?"

"I am sure, we can have a little test, if you are ready for it?" the floating ghost said. Takuya nodded. Kouichi smiled. The ghost, still sitting, floated so that he sat face to face with the brunette. Takuya was told to hold his hands together, as if he was praying.

"Think of a flower... It starts to bloom, it slowly opens... You can see it, yes, you must see it properly within your mind. Focus, think about it... Look at the color, see it before you... and now... the flower... it starts smoking... small whirls of smoke climbs up. The smoke thickens... you see a flame... it catches hold of the flower... it starts to burn... burn, yet it does not die yet..."

While Kouichi spoke Takuya truly concentrated and suddenly and unpredictable his body started to glow. When Kouichi started to talk about the burning flower something happened. His whole body caught fire, his hair flying yet nothing upon him or around him caught fire. Kouji woke up, with a start and to his horror and amazement he saw what was happening.

Kouichi finished. "You can open your eyes Takuya, you have mastered the first step."

Takuya truly did open his eyes. His eyes were no longer brown, but sky blue.

"What... how?" he started, the fires now slowly dying. He looked completely confused back at Kouichi who nodded.

"A flower represents your power, and the fire becomes the control. If you focus and don't let the fire consume the flower, you will master your powers without problem. I think you should crawl back to Kouji, and get some sleep. Seeing my brother woke up being frightened what was happening to you, you should really try to calm him down."

Takuya nodded and did what he was told. The brunette snuggled closer to his love, kissed him lightly before lying down. Kouji checked him from top to toe and noticing nothing seemed wrong he went back to sleep as well, yet this time he did not sleep as close as he usually did with him. The effect of the fire must have been frightful. Very frightful indeed.

* * *

Their journey continued, and the dessert landscape they had entered escaping the forest soon became a cold dessert landscape. Suddenly the snow lay thick on the ground, the falling snow pinching their cheeks. Izumi, walking with her wings folded close to her body coughed. Their hands and feet were numb.

"How far is it?" she asked . Most of them were fine, Kouji wasn't affected by weather, Takuya used his own, now slightly controllable fires to warm up, Junpei was made of rock and rocks adapts to the temperature as long as it doesn't happen in a flash. Izumi took it the hardest, so the friends tried to help her. Yet Aquilas were not used to snow, and she was not an exception.

Kouji suddenly transformed into a bat, flew some meters up the air and then returned. The vampire landed and said: "Just some few miles, keep it on. We are almost there!"

Izumi fell to her knees. "I don't know how much more I will be able to keep this up?" she said. Her hands were blue and her wings frozen. Junpei suddenly lifted her from the ground.

"I'll carry you, so let us hurry!" he said. Everyone nodded and took a few step forward and then...

WHAM!

They all fell down into a trap hole, thankfully not with more traps then a hard bottom. Voices could be heard from above, and to Takuya's horror weird hairy creatures appeared. Yetis!

Takuya looked in awe as white fury beasts spoke above them, probably discussing their dinners plans. Takuya considered lighting himself in his flames, which was the only controllable thing he could do with his magic so far, yet before he knew it he was out of the hole, bound by hands and feet, carried with a pole. He could not see what the Yetis were thinking... someone tied a piece of cloth before his eyes, and he saw no more. He could just hear the Yetis talking to each other, yet it was not dinner plans in their mind. It was something else. But he could not hear exactly what they said, and it made him worried. The next thing he would always keep in mind for the rest of his life was the cold snow that whirled around them, as they entered a city of technology, hidden in the middle of nowhere,

For years humans have searched for this place, in vain to be honest. For this city disappeared with all the culture, leaving a few traces left of its existence. The name, as we know of it is Atlantis... the name these Yetis call it, would be...

Sit Nalta... for the language spoken by these creatures, who are not really Yetis... is read from right to left, and not like most common languages, from left to right. "Sit" stands for Holy, and "Nalta" is their word for ice. The Holy Ice, the dream city for technology and knowledge... Sit Nalta, the home of the MistHimi culture...

* * *

Takuya blinked several times when he was allowed to see again. Indeed the sites before him were shocking, and yet beautiful. Everything was made of ice, and yet the air around them was warm. Around him stood people wearing white robes and looked almost identical to humans. Yet all of them did not wear shoes or any other kind of footwear. It was a special heat designed in their bodies that made them warm to any cold, and even if it sounded weird, all MistHimi liked the heat rather then the cold. They also liked the silence, which was why the city moved back to the cold glaciers of Nemorisa.

The five travelers had been placed in the center of a large open market. As he was looking around the others were released as well. Izumi made an attempt to fly upwards, but the guards untying them restrained her before she managed to lift. Not by force, more like catching her hand, shaking their heads. For some reason the girl obeyed at once. Kouji moved closer to Takuya... the vampire looked pale and he was hungry. Takuya simply wished there could be some kind of animal for him to feed on, like a bird or something, but there was no such thin in sight and he was pretty certain that if Kouji made on attempt to attack one of these they would be in big trouble.

Two of the MistHimi walked up to them, both wearing the same kind of white robe, looking like monks. One of them carried a bag, which seemed to contain medical plants. A Healer apparently. He was the tallest of them, and the oldest. The fellow y his side looked much younger, around 13-14 perhaps... brown untidy hair and he carried a bottle with him, which to Takuya's and Kouji's relief turned out to be nothing more or less then blood. Kouji took it, yet he did not drink it here. He had been here once before, and knew what these creatures thought of creatures like him.

The smallest boy said something in the ancient Ice-language to the older. The elder nodded.

"Words traveled for a long time, we were afraid you would never make it through the woods. I hope you did not have too may problems." the oldest boy said in normal language.

"Not that hard... we had some run in with this mad flower. But nothing worse."

The smaller boy sighed. The older spoke again. "We know all about her, and we are sorry, it was really our mistake. She is supposed to be asleep at this time of season, to be reborn next spring. She is a mistaken spell the witches once used for their agricultural plans, yet somehow they became her. They take care of her during the summer and spring, we put her to sleep during the autumns and winters."

Kouichi smiled. The ghost took the gold seed he had picked up, which he really had hoped to bury later in a more happier environment for the dead flower to rest, but if the MistHimi knew her then he did not want to stop her existence, if they knew how to make her live. The MistHimi (older) was mighty surprised when he received her seed in his hand.

"I take it that you knew her well. Was she really that desperate that she wanted to survive? Very well, perhaps we can grant her wish when the spring arrives and she will be reborn, like always."

The two MistHimi turned, the younger signaling for them to follow. The crowds around the ceased and they followed the two males to a small building with a big sign on top, written in a weird language.

The travelers all walked inside. They were invited to drink a cup of steaming hot tea, and some colorful biscuits. The elder spoke all the time, introducing him and his companion. The oldest's name was Jyou, the younger called himself Tomoki. Tomoki was a good friend to him, but due to an accident a few years ago he was now an orphan. Jyou ran the Healing House that based upon old herbal knowledge. But before they learned more about the house and about the MistHimi, a sudden call from the street (call for a Healer) Jyou had to hurry to do his duty. As if this wasn't enough, a voice no one had heard before talked to them, but not through air.

It came in their minds.

_Who the hell are you? And what are you doing here?_

Turquoise eyes glared at them, slowly turning red. Izumi was the first to notice, hoe her feet and her wings were suddenly trapped by this mysterious ice...

_TBC_

_Ah, finally... done. Too ages... hope you enjoyed. Me, so tired... yawn... Good Night!_

_Shitza_


	10. The Young Warrior of Ice

_Hi again... I really can't keep my fingers away from this fic, all though school started so... YUCK... _

_I am really cross writing between two fics now... three counting I have started one on adultfanfiction... yet that is NOT for MINORS. I do want to warn my younger readers to wait before reading, it is not the best of sites for innocent eyes. _

_This fic is going quite well, all though I realized we don't have any actual Evil guys yet... that is my fault, so perhaps why not let them enter. Obs, I am not using the old evil guys,5/6 are OC characters, the last and worst comes straight from one of the series. _

_I know that the anime clearly tells of family, but I had to fix some things involving new members. So, when you read this don't get ideas, it just needed to fit into the story. _

_Hmm... sometimes I wonder if I have managed to put too much Takouji into these fic. If anyone bothers to review (which I hope people do) then tell me. And this brings even out a more dangerous aspect since I could place some more, yet that would make it M rated. And I won't in thought of younger readers, it would seem a bit unfair. _

_And if anyone knows the names of the Thirteen Royal Knights, do tell. So far, I have nine names, but I cannot find the other thirteen. _

_Fun Facts  
Digimon 02: In this series the age of the digidestined is said to be around 11... the older around 14. When I reheard the translation of the Swedish translation they said that the gang went to 7th grade, in our means being at least 13. The older had if that was so, be at least 16. Scary..._

**Chapter Ten**

**The Young Warrior of Ice**

_Demons, the most feared creatures ever known. We, as humans, have already forgotten about the horrors it caused us, for all evidence lies buried deep in the Earth. Yes, a few demons still exists in our world. Yet where they are hidden no on knows, still the highest possibility would be at the core of this planet. But those chains will need more help then their powers to break, high sorcerers or wizards chained them to allow us to live. _

_Earlier you learned about the legend and the prophecy, yet, what happened with the demon? And what is it going to do? Even I don't know that, all though the updates are coming regularly. But from what we all can say, a demon doesn't exist forever, not in a mortal world. The demon child died shortly after his fathers death, yet he choose to die on his own accord. Why? I can answer that as well. Choosing death in a mortal world, an immortal creature i allowed one last wish. And this demon's wish became, to be reborn when the barriers between the worlds were weak enough to let him through. The demon so much wanted to be reborn. _

_Yet what he did not know, that during his father's days alive, the dragon mated with a mortal woman, having a child with her. The woman was shortly afterwards thrown out from her village, never able to ever return. The son she carried was a monster, half human and half dragon. The wings stayed on his back, as well as he could produce fire just like his father. This child, chosen to continue the lines of one of the six able to save this world, died like a mortal at the noble age of fifty, for in those years you died younger then now. But with each generation the dragon inheritance in their blood ceased more and more. They would for all eternity loose the ability to retain a dragon shape... perhaps one day receive the wings that marked their kind, but no more hope then that lasted. For after two generations a baby was born without the wings, and later they lost their fire ability. They looked like humans, with one power that remained. Fire could never hurt them. It protected them in a protecting ring around them. _

_You might now be able to figure out more about the last of the dragons. I think you can guess, or know who he is. But what about the demon? Now that the barriers are weakened, thanks to the human entering the world, what has happened?_

_Yes, the demon has received his wish to be reborn, and more powerful then ever. Behind him stands an army of creatures he is linked with mentally, they obey his wishes and commands. With their master reborn, they are slowly appearing to poison Nemorisa yet again. _

_What are they?_

_We can list them... the five terrors to exist, terrors so horrible the creatures of this world doesn't dare speak their name. But they have names. _

_Mortog_

_Alias: The Widow, the Spider_

_The black giant Black Widow residing in the black mountains. He feeds upon the flesh of creatures and the drink the blood of the immortal. He is said to be undefeated as all this blood and flesh has turned his skin to hide thick enough to break spears and swords. He is a creature of darkness... has eyes upon all legs, so you cannot attack him with him knowing. Throwing terrors into Nemorisa countless times when he feels hungry, no one knows how to stop him. _

_Schakal_

_Alias: The Immortal Shadow, The Stolen Soul_

_A red shadow, used to be a ghost but stole the crystal of blood and with that became Schakal. She is power hungry, mean and dangerous. She is not good at disguising herself, all though she doesn't need to. Becoming Schakal she obtained a fleshless body, mainly made of blood she drinks from her preys, in other words, other males. For females, she looks like the worst kind of hag ever seen, men can't see past this illusion unless they for some reason can spot illusions. Schakal was long placed in an enchanted bottle, to keep her there for all eternity. Yet lately, somehow she managed to escape. _

_Trix_

_Alias: The Unknown, the Figure_

_A Shapeshifter that once worked in the higher society, stealing all the things he could get. On one of his raids he came across the Dark Magical Novel, that has provided him with an endless amount of dark magic. Trix acts before asking his questions and simply a few times people has been able to answer him. Trix was caught trying to block the sunshine from the World, and imprisoned into a big mountain, hopefully never to escape, but he did. Only five years after being caught he managed to escape, and where he hides these days no one knows. _

_Bohemus_

_Alias: The Rock Boulder, the Moving Mountain_

_A demon that got stuck in a rock, and couldn't get out from it. Instead the rock formed to a body for him to use. Bohemus is not the smartest of the five Unmentioned devils, but his massive strength can crush everything from mountains to the cores of planets. Bohemus was long put to sleep, but woke up during an Earthquake taking place a year before Kouichi disappeared to Earth. _

_Umbra_

_Alias: The Shadow, The Dark Will_

_The most frightened vampire to ever have existed. Daughter to Count Dracula in Transylvania, but due to boredom she fled and returned to haunt Nemorisa. Umbra clearly drinks 50 liter too much blood per day, yet since Vampire's rarely grow fat she hasn't stopped and is a terror to everyone. She also possesses sun magic, therefor making her fellow vampires die without meaning. Only a few survives her light, the rare yet powerful Light Vampires. However being as befuddled as she is these days, her blood means poison and all creatures flee at the mention of her name. Umbra has never been captured, hurt or seen rather then by her victims, so sadly there isn't much more about her. _

* * *

_Who the hell are you? And what are you doing here?_

Takuya blinked. Who had said that, it sounded as if it came from his head. The brunette looked around and stared at the scene around him. The floor had turned to ice, it was steadily growing up their bodies. Izumi had the worst situation as the ice reached her shoulders, her wings were completely frozen. Junpei tried to rub his feet, where giant ice blocks lay. Kouji was stuck in a cage of ice while Kouichi was free and tried to do his best to help him.

Then, the brunette also noticed he was not stuck. Yo his amazement a ring of fire ha appeared around him protecting him from the cold. The brunette send the fire a grateful thought. A quick flash before his inner eyes told him about the burning flower. Takuya nodded. Fire melted ice, and even if he wasn't sure something was tempting him to heat things up. The brunette closed his eyes, the fires could help him concentrate. In his mind he saw a lily. A white lily smoking before catching flame. It felt like hours, that really were simple seconds. Kouichi's eyes, everyone's eyes widened seeing what the brunette was doing...

In his mind he wondered what would happen if the flower really burned down, and as he thought it did. What the others saw was the dragon-human having caught flames. Flames that licked his body, to slowly center itself on his arms. Takuya opened his eyes, yet they were not brown anymore. They were sky blue. His hair held a tiny hint of blond.

The brunette punched the air, sending waves of fires at the young MistHimi. Not to hurt him really, just to make him loose concentration. The young creature yelped shielding himself with his own ice. The ice around the others disappeared at the same second. Takuya was breathing heavily, his eyes and hair turning back to their usual color. Izumi sighed in relief fluttering her precious wings lazily. She was glad to be free. Kouji went to see how Takuya had it, for once not thinking about his fear for fire. The brunette lay on the floor, exhausted. Kouji smiled scooping him up in his arms, sighing with relief.

The door opened. Jyou had returned from his errand. The first thing that met him was a mass of disarray. The floor was slightly burned, yet pools of melted water still lay here and there. Izumi's wings were dripping as an evidence of the previous action... yet all four felt insecure seeing the older MistHimi surveying the scene, when he could report this and end everything. Kouji held his breath, for the little guy was simply yelling out lies. In the secret language of Sit Nalta.

_(Translation): "They attacked me, I couldn't do anything. They overpowered me with the fires of hell. They have to be monsters, perhaps demons. We cannot trust them, demons. They threw this black fire at me... the tried to kill me, saying they would kill everyone else.")_

Jyou shook his head. "You seriously think I will believe that. Tomoki, it is time for you to put your past behind. They are not demons, they are people like you, inheritors of the ancient magic. What you must have seen must have been the ancients attacks, because I know it was you who started attacking them. I could hear it from the streets. Besides, black magic leaves traces of evil behind, and there is no such evil anywhere in this house."

The older MistHimi turned and bowed respectfully. "I am terribly sorry. Tomoki's family was killed a few weeks ago, by a patch of attacking demons. We fended them off, yet many died. They broke in into the house and burned it to the ground. The reason this guy is alive is because he was staying here over the night.

Tomoki looked down, thick pearly tears tricking down his face. Izumi and Junpei looked saddened at his young face. For someone being so young this was terror. Who could have done such a thing?

"With meaning they however, it was not the demons who killed his parents and his older brother. The real culprits as we believe it had to be... The Stolen Soul."

Izumi gasped, her eyes wide in fear. Junpei hid his face behind his arms. Kouji flinched as well, he had not expected this.

"You mean Schakal?" Kouichi asked. This time Junpei ran out on the street, to find somewhere to hide. Izumi folded her wings before herself, hiding behind them. Kouji almost dropped Takuya, now hissing at his brother for mentioning the name.

Jyou looked paler and Tomoki simply looked ready to kill the ghost. "Don't ever mention that name!" Jyou said in a hushed voice.

"Why, would she do that of all things?" Izumi asked whimpering behind her wings. Jyou sighed.

"When Tomoki was born and the signs about his blood came before us, we did not keep quiet about it. Unlike the rest of you, where the evil ones had to track you down, they knew. Tomoki's mother was a beautiful and respected woman, his father captain of the armies and his brother training to become a soldier. Tomoki has always loved them, but as soon as the words came from here, she came with her demons and killed them. She must have thought Tomoki was home, luckily he was not. The ancient Ice lives on."

Izumi folded her wings back. "You don't need to be afraid." she said. "I know how you feel... I... used to have a sister once you see."

Tomoki was indeed listening. The little guy had stopped crying and was now staring at the Aquila.

"Aquilas barely age, we can live for thousands of years all though we don't have immortality. About twenty years ago I received a little sister. Her name was Tsukiko, the new light of the royal house on Aquila Mountain. Yet, it was also then that the news about my powers started to spread. So, one day, there was this cold wind coming from the open windows. I remember this s clearly, I was the one who saw him... luckily he is not smart, so he probably believed that Tsukiko inherited the powers of the wind. That bastard he... he..."

"Killed her?" Kouichi finished sadly.

"He devoured her right before my eyes. The screams, Gods, the screams from her mouth and all the fear I felt. I tried to hinder him, but he blew me into the wall, with one finger. Luckily he wasn't in the mood to kill me as well."

Kouji made a disgusted face. Tomoki looked at the Aquila, his eyes sparkling. The little MistHimi walked over to the angelic female, taking her hand.

_We will beat them one day. _He said inside of her head.

Izumi nodded. Kouichi floated towards the outside to find Junpei. Kouji carefully picked up Takuya. The older MistHimi lead them to an empty room. Kouji walked in, placing Takuya on the bed. He stayed there, for the rest of the night, simply waiting for him to wake up in the morning.

* * *

Night slowly fell over them, like a carpet thrown over your head. Before they knew it everything outside went pitch black. But inside Sit Nalta things still looked bright. Indeed, this was a city of technology and knowledge. Instead of the street lights the human world had, these streets were built of small crystals that glowed in the night. The whole place lit up in a spooky light. The windows had black curtains to allow you to get some peaceful rest. The houses were made of solid ice, and in the mysterious light you could see the outlines of cables in the wall. These cables were magical sources for such thing as heating (to -20 instead of -50 as it was), water, extra light and all of the necessary things. The technical parts were all run by magic of some weird sort, probably something that was left since the ancient years.

The five travelers stayed at the MistHimi Jyou's home. The older MistHimi had loaned them some of the patients' rooms. There weren't that many patients this evening, so the MistHimi was happy to help them. The others were happy that these rooms had been provided with a real heating system, unlike the one in most houses. Ice in the houses did not melt, not even to fire, so there was no trouble. Junpei was given his own room, he would need much heat not to freeze into a block or something. Kouichi stayed guarding the corridors, being in this house gave him the creeps, mainly since he had no idea what hid in the other rooms. Izumi had taken residence with the little MistHimi Tomoki. It hadn't been her idea, but Tomoki had grabbed her long skirt, giving her those puppy eyes no one could resist. He even agreed on turning up the heat.

Kouji stayed with Takuya. At first the vampire sat beside him, simply watching him. But as sooner sleep overtook him, Kouji turned to sleep. The vampire curled up beside Takuya, giving the young teen some of his body heat as well. All though, as Kouichi wondered when he sneaked in to the room, was if there wasn't some more heat into this.

'_My, my... I never believed I would see my brother cracking up like this. But, that is probably his way of saying... I love you_!'

* * *

Morning is a wonderful thing, don't you think? Waking up, you feel so refreshed that you jump up filled with energy. Anyway, this doesn't count for me, nor for the six people slowly waking up. Or to be exact, five... (Kouichi doesn't need to sleep you know, must be really boring.) Tomoki was the first to wake up, and gently he shook Izumi awake. Junpei was slowly trying to move, getting up before the rocks in him would clench together or something. The four let Kouji and Takuya stay in bed. The brunette hadn't woken up yet... at least, that was what they thought. When Izumi went to wake them up, the door was locked.

Inside however a battle took place. A battle of dominance. It started simply. Takuya waking up, seeing Kouji lying beside him. The sun was already up, so the brunette gently woke the vampire with a light kiss. Kouji opened his eyes, after some minutes of persuasion. Yet what happened after that came as a bliss of wonderful memories that would stay in the human's heart. Kouji started to kiss back and the rest ended up in a mass of blankets, kisses and cuddling. Sometime in the middle of it, both boys lost their shirts. Thankfully the door was locked and Takuya could swear someone came knocking at least once. Takuya kissed Kouji down the neck. The other boy moaned contently, smiling. Never before had the vampire felt like this really... and if anything happened it didn't matter as long as the two of them would be able to stay together.

Yet as the romance continued Kouji's thoughts twirled in his mind, and it was soon now or never. The vampire had already reconsidered this a thousand times already, but now he felt that the time was set. The vampire leaned closer to the brunette's ear.

"Takuya... Ive meant to ask you this for a long time... but, I've been too cowardly."

Takuya flinched. "You, cowardly. No way!"

Kouji sighed. "Yes, the point is... when a vampire decides to settle he..."

"...takes a mate" Takuya finished. "Kouichi told me about that."

Kouji raised an eyebrow. "Really, what did he tell you more?"

"Not much. He said something about a ritual, but he said you'd tell me the details."

"I know... that is what I must ask you first. Takuya I love you and..."

"Say that again!" Takuya said. It was the very first time any of them had ever said it right out.

"I love you!" Kouji said with an even wider smile, a smile he only ever showed Takuya. It was their secret. "And if you love me, as much as I love you, then do you want to, become my mate."

Takuya kissed him back as a reply. "Of course, but what does it really mean."

Kouji rolled his eyes. The questions never ceased to pop out from his mouth.

"Perhaps we will take that another day." he said. Takuya glared back at him. The vampire sat up, and moved to put his shirt back on. Before he knew it a pillow flew from the bed, hitting him on the back.

"Kouji Minamoto, you owe me an explanation!" Takuya said in a high voice.

"Another time Takuya. But while we are at the subject, perhaps it will be best if I simply do this..." he said leaning over to the brunette, biting him on the back of the neck. Takuya hissed as blood slowly trickled down. The vampire drew his tongue towards the little stream of blood, licking it. No matter what would happen, he could never get enough of this.

"What was that about?" Takuya asked as his neck started to sting irritatingly.

"It is just my mark on you. Perhaps, if my brother manages to sneak out some dragon appearances out of you then you might mark me as well. It is the only stage I will be allowed to do. A mating process is held where the ten elements collide, where the Royal Knights that sets the rules of this world, reside. If we can get their votes on our side, then one of them will send us their blessing, and with that comes a ritual I've only heard rumors about. It has been long since a vampire, or any creature, decided to mate. Mostly they simply meet, stay with together for a while and then leave. There are a few families in this world, and kids grow up with either their mother or father. My mum and dad were one of the last to mate, and that was around 500 years back. The number ceases for every century."

"That sounds sad, but why is it so special really?"

"It's an act of love, and if we mate that means you can set your mortal blood aside. Mates only die if one of the parts dies and since my blood is close to immortal, we would be together for probably all eternity. And I want to spend that eternity with you Takuya, for I have never been this happy as I am with you.

The two lovers locked lips again. And with this first step into a life of closeness, Takuya could feel all and every worry in his life fall apart. Everything became so bright for him.

Yet of course, evil had plans for the two of them. Like everything, the evilness had plans everywhere.

* * *

After a nice lunch, mainly on fish and liver oil, the six of them continued. Six, since Tomoki agreed to follow them. Being the Legendary Warrior of Ice, and by that the last of the remaining ancient powers, he completed their group. Now it was left to find the dragons and find their aid. They all knew that dangers awaited them, and for five of them, they even knew the names.

Their journey would grow more and more dangerous for them, perhaps because of the warning the received earlier on that morning. When four of them ate breakfast (Kouji and Takuya were occupied, remember), suddenly a dark cloud appeared outside and before they knew it, a fang soared through the window, landing on the table. On the fang was a message scribbled by, as it looked, blood.

It said...

_Warriors_

_Congratulations for finally managing to round yourselves up, saves me from that problem. Be beware however that we will seek you up and before you reach your destination, each one of you will be killed, including that little human twerp that calls himself to be inheritor of the Fire's power. We wish you a horrid evening, with plenty of nightmares that will make you as weak as flies. _

_Signed_

_Mortog _

_Schakal _

_**Trix**_

_**Umbra**_

**Bohemus**

The message made them all feel uncomfortable. Especially since they now knew what dangers lied ahead. Not only would they have to face the strongest and most evil creatures in Nemorisa, they also now would have to face the worst fears they could ever imagine. The road ahead would hold more creatures, as it crossed the Elven Forest, the Werewolf Grounds, the Only Church Yard found in Nemorisa, and they would still have a bunch of creatures who had been chasing them from the City. Even though they had not faced any of them yet, they still had to face some soon. It was just a matter of time before they would find them. That was for sure...

As they walked Izumi suddenly stopped. She was pointing at a strange looking cliff...

"That is the Gryphon's Head. Long ago it was the residence of my people."

"So, the Wind folk and the Ice people lived as neighbors?" Junpei asked. "Why did they leave?"

"An accident. A storm that blew us away, we couldn't stay since everyone getting caught in it blew of course, never to return."

The Aquila looked a bit sad.

"I remember that. I was four when it happened."

Tomoki stared at her._ Didn't that happen 140 years back?_ He asked, sending his thought to everyone. He could communicate through minds.

"No it was 165 years back."

"Then you must be at least 169 years old!" Takuya said surprised. Izumi nodded, the brunette almost fell back taken by shock. Kouichi laughed.

"Aquilas, as many other creatures, age very slowly. So, even if Izumi is over a hundred her body doesn't age for long. There are few creatures that aren't close to immortal... the only ones, come to think of that, who aren't are such things who are not must be Cloud Fairies and Light Fairies." Kouichi said.

"Cloud Fairies? Light Fairies?" Takuya asked.

"Kouichi, there are no Fairies that lasts long." Kouji corrected. "My, my, aren't we just a little bit curious today, huh, Takuya?"

"Kouji!" Izumi started, but Takuya interrupted her.

"Drop it Izumi, I don't mind Kouji's harsh words now and then. You have no idea what he tells me once we are in private."

Kouji flinched. Takuya was not going to spoil his image, was he?

The Aquila looked at the brunette, and then at the vampire. She held a very mysterious grin on her face. "Oh, I can simply imagine."

"Lay of, both of you. Leave my brother's comments out. To answer your question Takuya, Kouji is right. No Fairy can last very long. The Faeries are bound to the element or thing they were made of. If that thing, or element leaves, then the Fairy dies."

"I am surely glad I was not born as one, all though it would be wonderful to move a bit more freely." Junpei said, his arms moving slowly. They were still in the antarctic area of this world, and the cold was surely biting.

The weeks passed on and the air got even colder Jumena turned to Tisteria, the Month of wind and indeed the wind started to bite really hard. Takuya could feel his own hair turning to ice, and the wind tried to sneak under his warm clothes. Only Izumi seemed to enjoy this period, since the month of wind, due to her birth on the 9th Tisteria, (which in our counting is the same as Halloween). The only thing that brought her down was the longing she had of her mother. She missed her mother, and she would miss all the celebrations. She would turn 170 in a few days, which Tomoki counted, would be the day they would finally manage to find their way out from this mess.

The others, or more like, Takuya, Kouichi, Junpei and Tomoki thought about this. Tomoki had slowly started to manage the language they all spoke, yet he still had some problems. He was also getting more and more attached to the others. He mostly enjoyed Izumi's company, but also Junpei and funny enough Takuya's. The first thing the little guy had done was to walk up to Takuya, with three words. "I am sorry" which referred to the incident back in Sit Nalta. Takuya had already forgotten about it, and smiled saying it was no trouble. The human-dragon became like Tomoki's brother, and Izumi like his sister. With that the youngest of them became a team-partner.

The group was like always walking to reach their destination, and they all knew the farther they came the harder things would be. The group where nearing the Old Church Yard and Kouichi had some very strict rules about this place.

"The Church Yard is dominated by ghosts and phantoms. It wasn't my idea to go there, but it seems that in all the other passages have been blocked. Three of the Evil guys have been sighted in the other roads. Schakal is hunting the areas we left, Mortog has been sighted by th mountains and I am not willing to risk the last of my ghost life to be trapped by him. Trix was last seen in this valley" he said pointing at the map. "She was cursing a village of goblins to become slaves to darkness."

Junpei was holding his hands over his ears. "Stop saying, their names, please!"

Izumi was whimpering as well. Tomoki looked fine, as well as Kouji and Takuya. Nothing seemed to be able to scare the human away.

"Why you not scared?" Tomoki asked.

Takuya shrugged. "I really don't know all the facts about these guys, and even if they are worse then my nightmares, it will take a lot more then that to make me turn from this journey."

"And you?" Tomoki asked the twins.

"We've already confronted them. Or the worst of them. Umbra was the one who killed me, pushing me into the light, making me burn. She knew about my powers and he wanted me out of the way. And Kouji has fought with Umbra..."

"He did what?" Izumi and Junpei said in chorus.

"Fight Umbra. It was right after that I came back, as a ghost. My poor brother was heartbroken, no matter how cruel he can be, my twin has a heart. All though in his despair the light of his heart almost vanished, he slowly started to become like a demon. Umbra noticed this powerful change as you can bet, and decided to collect him to the dark forces. However, it was his hate towards them that made Kouji remain as what he is, and it saved him. When Umbra came through the black gates, he fought her with beast like appearance. As far as I know, seeing how her theories had been mistaken, she disappeared."

"Then we really have business with them. But who is Umbra?" Takuya asked.

Kouji's darkened. His whole aura seemed to grow from light to darkness at the mere mentioning of who Umbra would be.

"The worst of them all. The shadow of a demon, a vampire that has gotten too much skill."

Kouichi shook his head. "Kouji, leave that behind you for a while. We need to concentrate upon how we will get across that Yard unnoticed. So, get over here and do something useful!"

The vampire sighed and did what he was told. No matter what, he was still the youngest of the brothers. Little did the group know, that not far away, a head was sticking out from a rock. Something or someone was watching them.

"So, this is the group I've been warned about. Very well then, time to raise the heat you scums." it said, with an echoing voice.

_TBC_

_F-I-N-A-L-Y_

_Finished, at least this chapter. Sorry it took long to update, but I had exams to finish. Couldn't write for a few days, because I was buried in work. I hope Ill be able to update soon, yet, you know how school can be. Evil, evil and even more evil! _


	11. An Unwanted Confrontation

_Argh... seems no one knows the name of the 13 Royal Knights. What a pain... now this chapter will be fit with false information. _

_So, these are the ones I could find... names are in Japanese_

_Magnamon  
__Omegamon  
__UlforceVeedramon  
__LordKnightmon  
__Dynasmon  
__Alphamon  
__Dukemon  
__Craniumon  
__Sleipmon  
__(KingEtemon) because there is still no evidence of it. _

_I recently received the English Script for Romeo and Juliet... having read through a few lines... guess how I talk these days. I saw it once in Swedish, but like we say here, reading English Original beats everything. You cannot read translated books in Swedish without (as my Latin teacher would put it) vomit. And that stands for books, films and dubbed series... YUCK..._

_The chapter took a while, I have loads these days. Sigh... my teachers hardly leave any of us some time alone. I've been thrown into heaps of homework, exams and the rest... _

_By the way... news going on... Currently I've taken a liking for making my own AMV, posted on AnimeMusicVideos. And not too long ago, running through Japanese Legends on wikipedia, I stumbled upon the legend of Susanoo... aka the inspiration for Susanoomon of Frontier. If there is anyone interested just search upon "Japanese Myth"_

_Oh, I will have so much fun in this chapter... you just wait and see. Takes out a chainsaw, knife, gun and whip. Beware Takuya, this author has gotten plans for you!_

_Oh, and if anyone thinks I am writing too much fluff, warn me. Yet, writing fluff is fun, I just hope I am not overdoing things. _

**Chapter 11**

**An Unwanted Confrontation**

_To be reborn, what joy it would be and how it must feel  
__A master to awaken, to the clock at the end  
__Brother to his enemy, he must seek  
__The golden spirit, and take  
__Sacrifices and life  
__Love and Trust  
__Heart and Soul  
__Make a hell  
__Of the One  
__Who can  
__Kill  
__He_

_As well as there exists a Good prophecy, this is the counterpart. It tells of the rebirth of the One demon that everyone fears will be reborn one day. It is slightly more unknown, as the only copy of it was destroyed during the Great Demon War. It has only been told from mouth to mouth, by the ones great enough to rule this world. The thirteen Royal Knights. _

_However... pain as it may be to tell, no one knows how to decode this. It is a question we cannot answer. 13 knights tried, and 13 knights failed. _

_So, what is a Royal Knight? _

_That is another easy question. A Royal Knight is a creature that due to the services of Nemorisa has reached a strength almost nothing would be able to destroy. They are immortal as immortality possibly could be. Nothing could kill them, except for the destruction of the world, caused by evil auras. They are the strongest living creatures of Nemorisa, it is just..._

_The cannot leave the dimension they are trapped in. _

_You can enter that dimension, vampires do all the time when they are ready to bond with another. But due to chains that binds their souls, the knights cannot leave. They have tried countless times, but as soon as they are close to the borders of Nemorisa, something drags them back against their will. You would think that such powerful creatures would be able to resist. But not much can resist the laws of nature. _

_Many councils are held here, with all the creatures. Councils of Peace, of War and of Loyalty. Some councils are created of Love, others of hate... the list goes on. But why are the 13 strongest creatures trapped in this prison?_

_Once, long ago the knights fought in this area, almost being destroyed. A demon is the only thing that can threaten them, and cause them pain. If a demon would be able to slave one, then it is all over. Knowing this they stay away, and bonded to this place. Demons cannot enter, this is to pure for their touch. Sometimes the knights want to leave, yet to be reminded of what can happen to them if they do, they don't. Don't think they are lazy because they do this to protect the world from an even worse danger... themselves. _

_You don't want to meet a Dark Knight... ever._

_So... this brings up the last and final question. What does the Knights think will save the World, when they obviously can't. A Royal Knight is a very formal personality and like dragons they believe in Legends. So, when they know that darkness will grow more powerful then ever before, the six remaining warriors will rise and save them. _

_

* * *

_

Takuya scratched his back furiously. Somehow, for the last couple of days his whole body had gone nuts. It was itching like hell. Something was happening to him, whether he liked it or not. He was having weird dreams at nights, thinking how you now could know it was night at this dark gloomy place.

Kouji was growing concerned about these matters, yet the vampire also had gotten stuck in other problems. News travelled from the Dark Faeries that one of the evil guys was chasing them. The Widow... or the Spider. The very same... Mortog!

Kouichi was the one who kept his eyes upon the the brunette for a while, as Kouji was obviously concentrating upon planning strategies to evade the attack. And if that would fail, they all needed a plan. They needed to be prepared.

Izumi was chirping and happy. Tomoki had reminded them about her birthday and with that everyone had given her something. Tomoki gave her a mirror that was made of ice, that could show you not only your reflection but to everywhere you wanted. Izumi had spent hours looking in it, looking back to her home and her mother. Tears travelled down her cheeks thinking about her mother. She really missed her.

Junpei had given her a necklace, which happened to be a Raiki speciality, believe it or not. Raiki's were known for being good smiths and had a taste for beauty even though they were big and rock-like. Kouichi had given her a bunch of black flowers. The Aquila looked a bit sceptical at first wondering why they did not have any colour. Kouichi answered telling her how heartbroken he felt when he had been making them himself. Izumi apologised and took the flowers, now having her hair braided in them. The ghost also had said he had some difficulties upon carrying money especially since they would end up falling to the ground sooner or later.

Kouji had given her a longbow with arrows. It was a beautiful artwork made of elves. The female obviously had loved it and asked if she could give Kouji a thank-you-so-much kiss. Kouji obviously refused standing close to Takuya after that. Izumi was a great companion, but it would be pain for the vampire to kiss her.

Takuya didn't have much to offer, having seen all the gifts everyone else came with. He didn't even know exactly what his gift was until he showed it to the girl. Izumi was stunned by it, everyone was wondering where Takuya had gotten it. It was a purple stone, with something like a red heart deep inside it. Kouichi explained to the brunette that this was called a Beryl, a rare elfstone with outstanding magic. Without asking Izumi had pecked him on the cheek, thanking him a hundred times over. It was worth more treasures then you can imagine, for there are just a few left and mainly those exist with elves or very rich families.

Izumi carried the stone around her neck. It had wonderful healing powers and would increase her powers. Takuya had received it from one of the Elder witches back then.

"Kouichi... do you have any idea what this is all about?" the brunette asked as they stopped for a quick rest. The brunette had removed the shirt he was wearing, trying to cool of his scratches. His back was red, on a few places blood trickled down. Two darker pats on each side of his spine showed something was going on, yet he could not figure out.

"This is getting serious. Maybe we should ask Izumi about this. Those bruises or whatever they are, I don't know but they look serious."

"Yeah, sure." Takuya said bringing his hand back to continue scratching.

The ghost floated away to get the female. Meanwhile Takuya looked around, shivering to the cold. Tomoki was playing with some Dark Faeries that seemed to be significant to this place. Kouji sat bent over a map, trying to plan out his strategies. Junpei stood over the vampire, helping out.

Suddenly he felt a warm back on his hand. He looked back to see Izumi smiling at him. The winged creature drew a finger through his spine, making him shiver.

"I don't think you need to be so worried, Kouichi. Takuya is growing wings."

Everyone looked up, even Kouji. "Wings?" they all said bewildered.

"How can you tell?" Kouichi asked scratching his head.

"Aquilas aren't born with wings, we get them around the age of two. Having been a babysitter before I have seen the same kind of pattern on everyone. Two spots by your spine turns dark, a few days later something grows from it."

"WHAT!" Takuya said.

"Must be his dragon-blood. Nothing else can explain that. He is part dragon in his blood, perhaps it is growing stronger. After all, Nemorisa affects every creature that comes here, which means that the few drops of the dragon within him is growing. This means his powers inherited by Aguni will increase as well."

"That sounds weird!" Junpei said sitting down. The Raiki was scratching his head, shaking it.

"We will need to make changes on his shirts from now on. It will be quite uncomfortable for the wings to be trapped underneath those." Izumi said. The girl straight went to find a needle to make holes for the wings everyone expected to grow.

Takuya sweatdropped. Izumi had said that the wings would appear in 2-4 days. The brunette couldn't believe this was happening to him. But Takuya now received nightmares as his imagination took over, and he saw himself with some kind of monster crawling from his back.

Before they all turned to sleep, except for Tomoki who helped Kouichi with the guard duties, Kouji took Takuya aside for a short while. The vampire didn't look scared that Takuya was turning more and more like a dragon, indeed his fears for fire had slowly ebbed away. Instead the vampire attacked Takuya with a kiss and the two of them choose to sleep together, alone as far from the fire as their guards would allow them to.

* * *

It had been a long search, but finally they had started to catch up. A group of werewolves and some animagus. It was night, and the werewolves could finally pick up the scents again. Not only the scent of a human, but also the scent from various creatures. Not just the human, but also the scent of a Raiki, an Aquila and a MistHimi. This had been unexpected beyond unexpected.

"Like a wrapped gift!" the leader of the werewolves said.

"Are you really sure we should just grab them and go?" the leader of the Animagus asked?

"I am not sure, I am positive! Darkness doesn't belong in a world like this!"

* * *

The itching grew worse and Takuya was furious. Thankfully he got to borrow Izumi's elfstone which seemed to milder the constant itching. Izumi didn't mind, the news about the Spider had ebbed off and they could all breath, so there would be no critical need for it, for a while.

Or so, they thought.

Indeed as the days continued, with no real adventure except for walking, one day, Takuya woke up feeling something was very different. The brunette went to a river that flowed by their camping only to see...

Wings, he really had wings. Bright blazing red wings in the same soft fur-like appearance as Daisuke. He also felt a bit strange, like more energetic than ever. To his amazement many things changed over one night. His hair was longer and lighter, his eyes shifted between chocolate brown to blue.

The brunette had woken up early so no one had seen his change. So when Tomoki woke up, the little boy flinched seeing a dragon sitting b the fire. It took him a while to figure out who it was.

"Takuya... you are dragon now?" he asked.

"Yeah, so it seems!" the brunette answered.

Kouichi floated from the trees, the ghost had been tricked by a few Dark Faeries to follow them and gone wrong. When he returned he too smiled. _'I guess Izumi was right.'_ he thought floating over to join.

Next Junpei and Izumi entered. Junpei was a bit stiff and rocky like always, while Izumi was gracious and beautiful. Junpei's jaws fell seeing the change, while Izumi giggled softly. Well, when it says that a Raiki's jaw falls to the floor, it does so. The Raiki apologised picking it up from the ground, rubbing the dirt away.

Last up was Kouji, who still seemed to be tired waking up. The vampire was slightly pissed of as he had awoken to find that Takuya was gone. And...

It is one of those moments when the heart stops and you can't breath. For Kouji, it was like falling in love for a second time. His brain didn't even register that everyone else was watching. Instead he ran over to the dragon, kissing him hard. Izumi giggled and Tomoki simply shrugged not fully understand grown ups. Kouichi smiled broadly. Junpei knocked on the others shoulders saying they should go somewhere else, until the lovers were finished.

Today they did not continue their journey, nor the day after. Instead the five friends to the newborn dragon decided it was time to teach Takuya the real manners of this world. Kouichi taught him the History of Nemorisa, Junpei fighting in both combat and swords, Tomoki differences between races, as well as likenesses, Izumi flying and Kouji the rest. The brunette got a tough time ahead trying to remember differences between the Ghost and Phantom, the story about the Kitsune War (which in the end made every single creature getting involved in the fighting, wiping out half of the existing species or the behaviour you should put up meeting a Three headed Dog.

Takuya was exhausted when he pulled his cloak over his shoulder, his cloak served more like a blanket these days then what it did to protect him from the wind. If it started to blow he preferred stretching his wings flying upwards. Many times Izumi and Kouji joined him in this. Tomoki, Junpei and Kouichi followed their actions from below. Kouichi could have joined, but to be honest, heights made him nervous and he preferred to stay a few inches over the ground.

For once things seemed peaceful, but not for long.

They were about to continue, packing what they needed and leaving the rest. Tomoki was once more playing with Faeries when suddenly...

The MistHimi suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, starting to look around. Then he hurried, diving to pick up a fur package he had, the package that was the famous Yeti fur. In the human world, and to scare away their enemies, MistHimi wore white fur over their bodies. It made them look like monsters, unknown monsters.

Tomoki made a noise that made everyone shiver. This horrid tune continued for ages. Even Kouichi looked pale, and had taken residence to hide behind his brother, fighting Takuya for space.

"It is the MistHimi warning signal. Something is here!" Kouji said. The black wings grew from his back and he flew upwards. The sight shocked him, for what he saw was...

"Shit... the werewolves have found us." he said hurrying down. A rain of arrows appeared before them.

Tomoki stopped howling. The little guy started to glow white. "Frozen Arrowhead!" he shouted, the fur on him formed to spikes that shot from it, breaking the attack.

The fight was over them like a pack of hungry wolves, and indeed many of these were wolves. Kouji, Izumi and Takuya all flew up to avoid the worst damage, only to be attacked by rotting animagus. The werewolves attacking Kouichi didn't get much to attack as their moves went through him. Tomoki had frozen his opponents blowing cold ice from his mouth, keeping them away not wanting to turn into a werewolf himself. Junpei didn't have to worry about bites with skin as his, so he simply punched his opponents away. Not that many came attacking him knowing how hard it was attacking Raikis.

"Pyro Darts!"

"Lupine Laser!"

"Shadow Meteor!"

"Hurricane Gale!"

"Ultimate Thunder!"

"Frozen Tundra!"

The werewolves and animagus soon realised they were not fighting normal creatures. The attacks kept knocking them away, and the longer the fight continued they all started to worry and wonder. For the scent of human had been switched to the scent of a dragon. And they did not understand a thing.

"Kouji, stay behind me!" Takuya warned. The vampire knew better then to object and wisely hid behind the dragon. Takuya raised his hands before him.

"Wildfire Tsunami!"

A shower of fire rained down. The remaining warriors knew better then to stay and hurried away. Wolves howled in pain as the fire caught them. Everyone couldn't believe their eyes.

"Scram!" Takuya yelled over the screams. "The human you are searching for is dead since long. I am Kanbara Takuya, the Dragon Lord that claims to be of the prophecy of the Warriors. Now leave this place, or be swallowed by flames of eternity."

The five remaining warriors all blinked not understanding a thing. The werewolves fled, well almost all. The animagus retreated and stopped their attacks. But the leader of werewolves would not back away.

"You claim yourself as warriors, then be one and fight me down here!" he said.

"As you say, but don't blame me for your wounds once this is over!" Takuya answered flying down to meet his opponent.

"Takuya, don't!" Kouji called. The vampire tried to follow, but to his surprise one of the animagus grabbed him from behind. The creature flew backwards with him, landed and changed back to himself, from some sort of big ladybug.

"There is no point stopping them. Takeru can't be stopped until he has either lost or won.

"And who are you?" Kouji snarled reconsidering sucking the life of this thing.

"I am Koushiro. The general of Animagi... and you are Kouji, right? The vampire who helped a human to enter this realm. Why did you, and where is he?"

Kouji snorted. "What I did is none of your damn business. As for the human, take a look." he said pointing at Takuya, who was struggling with Takeru in a true fist fight.

"I see, so the dragon community will have to answer for this. At least we have the answer now, thank you!"

* * *

_(A/N: Fighting scene, will get rough so for those who can't read bloody fighting, then drop down. Everyone else, I thought it was about time to hand out some real combat. Enjoy!)_

Takuya could feel his own blood boiling. For the first time ever since he had arrived at this place, he felt he could do something to help everyone else. The brunette smiled blocking every move the werewolf pulled on him. Takeru fought with rage while he fought with courage. That was the difference.

Twice the werewolf had tried to bite him, and each time it was a close call. Say what you want, werewolves can be quite nimble when they are hunting, and Takeru saw red. At least, everyone else would be alright, no matter what happened here.

Suddenly the dragon felt an immense pain in his arm, and saw Takeru's claws digging into it. The dragon-boy hissed in pain. Takeru smiled pulling his clawed fingers out. Blood sipped down from his wounds.

Takuya had never felt such an intense scent before, and for the first time he could try to understand Kouji's blood obsession, apart from that his boyfriend happened to be a vampire. Blood gave a fresh scent to his nostrils, for the change of his blood had given him great abilities...

As well as great weakness...

For dragons had one weakness and that was...

Takuya had heard Daisuke talk about this once, but hadn't had time to get used to it. Takeru had slain dragons in his way before, and to the brunette's surprise and fear the werewolf raised his claws, slashing him over the eyes. Takuya howled in pain, for he was blinded. If a dragon's eyes are damaged, then they turn blind. And then, who knows how they can win.

Takeru smiled seeing the dragon crawling in pain before him. The claws of the werewolf clattered against each other in anticipation. He could kill the dragon and then continue to find this horrid human and be back home before he would know it.

In Takuya's head several thoughts ran through mind, yet he was far from giving up. Okay, I cannot see him, but that doesn't stop me from hearing him. The dragon stood still, not moving an inch simply listening.

Takeru made an attempt to kill him, to finish him for good. Yet that made a small swish in the wind.

Takuya moved out of the way, stunning the werewolf who slashed nothing but air. Takuya kept his concentration on listening.

"Damn you! Can't you stay still!" the werewolf snarled trying again.

Takuya didn't reply. Fire started to appear around him. He may only have one chance, he had a fairly open guess on where Takeru was standing.

"Pyro Punch!"

Only, he did not hit anything.

Then he felt claws dig into him, tearing him apart. He had guessed wrong. He could hear his own blood pounding for dear life.

"Pyro Punch!"

This time he surely hit, right in the stomach. Takeru hissed falling back. It had been a powerful hit, which sent the werewolf flying.

'_Unbelievable'_ the werewolf thought before he hit the ground, panting loudly. '_He really is a Warrior_'

Takuya smiled in victory, still blind. Then he could feel his life energy flow from him, and with a sigh, he fell to the ground.

_(A/N: The rough scene is over, the story goes on and I am not stopping yet. I still have some more in store.)_

* * *

Kouji couldn't believe it seeing Takuya fall to the ground. The vampire broke out from Koushiro's arms running over to his fallen koi. He didn't notice everyone else doing the same, wondering if he was still alive, or if he really was...

Surprisingly enough the first to arrive was Kouichi, followed closely by his brother. Life still seemed to lie deep within the dragon, even though it was faint. This calmed the two of them, yet they had to hurry.

Izumi arrived two seconds after the twins. The Aquila took out the elfstone she had received earlier. It would be able to clear out the cuts, if they were lucky most of the wounds. Takuya's eyes hopefully would heal within two weeks with constant care. The dragon was pretty weakened.

Tomoki lay the huge fur over his friend, hoping it would keep him a little warmer. Takuya's wings were quickly treated. Junpei stood guard keeping the werewolves and animagus away. The Raiki did not trust them, even though his guard duties wouldn't be needed since all werewolves and animagus had moved away from them. They only watched them, watched how they took care of their injured friend. As well, the werewolves had to take care of their captain's injuries, even though they were not as severe. Takeru was back moving, as Takuya still hadn't woken up and did not respond to any of them. The only evidence that he was still awake came from his breathing and regular heartbeat.

Kouji did not leave his side no matter how long it would take. Te vampire seemed to slowly die, that even his brother couldn't persuade him to hunt and eat. His life seemed to have ended. This night, on the last night of Tisteria. The Month of the Wind was slowly fading away. It was growing much colder, only Tomoki did not complain about it.

As the days had continued they had also started to talk more with the werewolves that still stayed close to them. Kouji even met Takeru, who apologised deeply for his actions. Whether or not Kouji accepted the apology, who knew since he turned away, things started to grow more peaceful.

It seemed that the the chase after the human was now closed. Instead the werewolves and animagus tried their best to make up for the chase they had pulled on them.

Kouji was close to give up soon. Takuya stayed asleep for weeks to come. His body was fully healed, even his eyes would be back to normal function again. It was just, he was still out cold. Kouji couldn't take much more of this. He missed him so much.

The vampire sat by the side of the brunette, stroking his hand softly.

"I wish you could return to me, you have no idea how much this dark heart desires you. Our kisses, our love, our freedom. Please Takuya, come back to me..."

The vampire bent over and touched Takuya's lips with his. But even that wouldn't help. Kouji was put into the shadows, if this continued then the brunette could stay like this for ever.

The vampire walked out from the tent they had built for the brunette. Snow started to fall over him, which was rare in Nemorisa. Kouji hadn't seen the snow fall in Nemorisa for fifteen years before he turned up at Earth. It was really an extraordinary sight. Snow in Nemorisa isn't just white, it comes in all colour.

"Takuya, if you only could see this!" the vampire said, a tear trickling down his cheek. The tear fell to the ground, melting the snow it landed on. Snow crunched as he walked on it. Magical colours displayed before his eyes. Could this be death, finally taking him?

And then he saw it...

"_**Takuya?"**_

_TBC_


	12. I Love You, Don't you leave me Again

_Hi again, have you missed me? Sounding by the reviews, some of you seemed to want me to update right this instant! I am sorry guys, I cannot write, do homework and study for exams at one go. And so, also spend time with friends and such, including finding a job for the summer. _

_Still, I hope you haven't waited too long, and tardiness stands for the same things School, homework, exams, and such. My, my, we have arrived somewhere in this story, and yet there is so much more I would want to add. Why not continue and see where this goes. _

_And thanks all wonderful reviewers who makes this so much more fun to write. I am so happy. _

_Now better get going. Last time, Takuya changed into a Dragon, and fought Takeru. He's currently in coma, or is he? I bet you all wondered what he saw... but first, the introduction and facts. _

_LOL Shitza_

_Ps: (SQUEAL) The title of today's chapter has to be a favourite, right? I am too giggled writing night-time And the Intro is a favourite as well... (Authors note: Don't drink anything sweet during writing, especially if you find it easy to be effected by hyperness.)_

**Chapter 12**

**I Love You, Don't you leave me Again**

_Love, love has many meanings._

_For some, it became the oath to be devoted to each other, never to let go._

_For some, it is a curse you want to break._

_For them, it is something you cannot break or love, no matter how hard you try it._

_For in Nemorisa, love can be use as a curse as well as the words of Heaven._

_Aquilas and Werewolves, Vampires and Trolls. They are really the same in the question of love, a simple state of wanting and needing. Most creatures simply mates and then leaves to never see each other again. Some uses it to their own purposes and some few really believes in it. But whatever you choose to do, it is really the same er... so to say... trouble..._

_There is a main rule around Nemorisa. Always keep your love-life in the bed room. But of course, not everyone follows the rules, and many of these suffers from consequences. For example, pranks, bullying and more. Love isn't taken for granted and many creatures never experience love. Hundreds of years of fighting puts the line between and during those periods hate rose between families. You can say, that there are two reasons why creatures are truly on their way towards extinction, and those aren't just humans. That was several hundred of years ago. No, todays main reason is none less then 1, war or 2, incredible lack of reproduction._

_So, all these pranks and such bases upon jealousy, and yet some pairs manage to keep their love profile high, with others knowing. The most famous examples are at this present time Taichi and Yamato, Jenrya and Takato as well as the newcomers Daisuke and Ken. There is also Taichi and Yamato's siblings Hikari and Takeru, yet the two of them obtain a lower profile as known._

_Weird, weird, isn't it. If you kept daily news about love-problems over Nemorisa then the list for an hour would reach the length of an English mile. Love is a blessing as well as a curse. It was actually here it was invented._

_

* * *

_

"_**Takuya?"**_

Kouji stared at the shadow before him. Light shone around, so he couldn't distinguish who it really was, but it looked like him. He could be sure he could sense some blood, but this blood was different from his lover. If he would not have been much mistaken he could have sworn it was human blood, but he might be wrong as well. After all, heartbroken vampires are not to trust.

"**KOUJI!**" he heard someone call after him. The vampire looked back to see Kouichi hovering back by the tent, calling after him. The vampire looked back at the shadow, or whatever it had been. But it was gone. Strange... yet not completely surprising. This was Nemorisa, a world where your own shadow could betray you.

Kouji took a deep breath to calm his nerves, walking back to the others. The snow continued to dance before him, looking so peaceful. But this vampire was nowhere near peace. As he arrived beside his brother, he saw that Kouichi had changed somehow, but his misty mind couldn't sort out what.

"Kouichi, you should really see this. You will not believe it!" Kouichi said dragging his brother with him. Kouji almost stumbled as Kouichi dragged him back to Takuya's tenth. Izumi was also inside sitting beside the bed, checking on the brunette. The girl smiled, standing up.

"I guess we'll leave the two of you alone." she said tiredly taking the herbs and some unused bandages with her. Kouji blinked, had something happened?

Kouichi dropped the sleeve of his brother and proceeded with walking out through the walls of the tenth. Izumi almost followed his movement, until she remembered that she wasn't a ghost and could not walk through fabrics. Instead she took the entrance out.

Kouji walked up to the bed, tears stinging behind his eyes. This was a reason why he needed some fresh air, he couldn't stand watching Takuya like this. The vampire sat down beside his love, holding the warm hand. Two tears fell down from his cheeks. One to the dirt floor and the other wetting the skin of his lover's hand.

Kouji was crying, tears falling. He didn't even notice it. He didn't even notice when Takuya gripped back. He didn't notice the brunette watching him, hugging him close. Not until he spoke.

"Kouji, please don't cry. Everything will be alright now."

Kouji stiffened, his brain slowly registering everything that happened. Now Takuya was crying on his shoulder, wings folded around them protectingly. Kouji didn't know why, but he liked it; he liked it very much.

"Takuya, I never thought you would be back." Kouji sniffed.

"I know... I know... I never thought I would wake up. I know how you feel. I love you!"

"Love you too Takuya... Don't you ever leave me alone again!"

By the entrance of the tenth Tomoki watched them, smiling. Everything seemed to be back to normal, and hopefully it would be allowed to stay like that for a while.

* * *

The days continued and with each day Takuya got even better and better. The first two days were all spent in bed, the following three random between bed and outdoors. But soon the dragon was healthy as ever, currently sitting with a bunch of werewolves trying to understand the growling accent that seemed to be common with this race. Another thing to note was that Takeru was rarely seen after his cure, in mortal fright that Takuya would plan something against what he had done.

Of course the brunette had no such plans, mistakes can be mistakes and people can regret things. Also, Izumi told him about how much the werewolf cared and helped while he was still knocked-out. Yet however, as the snow continued falling, it seemed it would never stop, the werewolves had to leave. Takeru promised, as he shook hands with Kouji, Takuya and Kouichi (who sort of had a little special handshake for a small revenge of what had happened), to try to clear out as much of their names as possible. Now, as they knew the truth, or the main truth, the werewolves had no reason to continue their chase. Takuya took this as great news, tired of thinking that they had more then just evil creatures chasing them.

The travellers also had to continue their journey, thanks to the incident with the werewolves they were really late out. The snow was falling in thick storms, clouding their visions. This time they choose Tomoki to lead the way. The MistHimi knew more about snow than any of them, so it was simply natural.

The beautiful snow they had now turned to something incredible more grey. Black snow started to fall, and with this their mood changed yet again. But unusually enough, Kouichi stayed as happy as ever. Happy that he soon would have reasons to pass the Land of the Dead without fearing for the little life he had left.

Indeed they soon saw a great mass of tombs and a graveyard big enough to fit the smaller states of America in it. The land of the dead was a land that grew every year due to the death of creatures. You never came here unless you were to bury someone. Here the ghosts, phantoms and poltergeists resided with the Ghost Community, or parts of it. (The main Community resided in Monster City with everything else.) Soon they all could see ghosts and at night time even one phantom or two. Unlike everything else they had seen, the ghosts greeted them passing, some even helped them with directions and others simply wondered what a group of such unusual travellers did in their land? As if that wasn't enough, words had travelled far within the community, so practically everyone knew that Kouichi was innocent from all the talk about humans, for Takuya wasn't really a human deep inside, which seemed to bend the rules around his friends. This wasn't all over.

"This doesn't seem to be so bad, does it?" Izumi said watching some children ghosts play with a flock of huge spiders. Tomoki nodded enthusiastically, wanting to join into the game. The MistHimi wore the fur over himself making him look like a small Yeti. Yet the name Yeti was a human invention. Really, he didn't grow that much hair.

It was night, yet what did time matter for a ghost. Song and dance still echoed towards the universe and no one seemed to mind. The travellers sat in one of the three tents they had brought, cramped together with Kouichi sitting both outside and inside body parts. Takuya and Kouji sat, like always together, the brunette's head resting on the vampire's shoulder. It was late, and Junpei was slowly falling asleep where he was sitting, which Izumi told him off since this was her and Tomoki's tent and she did not allow him to fall asleep, since that would mean they wouldn't be able to get him out of there. Junpei had some really heavy weight.

Soon people left to get some rest, Kouji carrying the sleeping dragon in his arms. Takuya had fallen asleep during it all, it was probably the cold that made him use too much heat energy. The two of them headed towards their tent. Kouichi watched them leave, smiling. However as each day passed the older twin couldn't help feeling a bit more alone. After all, Kouji, his little brother, had truly grown up now almost mated. The ghost, knowing everyone needed their rest and wouldn't like him to disturb their sleep, also left, together with Junpei. The two of them said good night at the Raiki's tent, yet Kouichi wouldn't go to sleep. At least now he would find a reason to party the whole night. But his reasons left through the window by a sudden enchanted trap in his way. A net over his head.

'_Not again'_ he thought trying to struggle from it. However all his attempts failed and he got even more and more ensnarled in this clever thing. But really, was it a trap when he could hear playful laughter in the background, and he recognised that voice.

"My, my, I was hoping on catching a thief and it looks like jackpot. Long time, no see... Kouichi!"

Kouichi blinked. "Hirokazu... is that really you?" he asked.

The laughter continued. "Surprised to see me?" Hirokazu asked. Kouichi blinked when he said _see_ because he could not see a thing. He looked around, dead sure he heard the voice. And dead sure there wasn't anyone there.

Kouichi, even though he was a ghost, found this very frightening. Hirokazu was a famous ghost-hunter, one of the few who lived to complete the extinction of ghosts. If he was in his trap then he was sure enough as good as dead.

As he was replaying various memories of old attempts where he had barely managed to survive. The famous ghost-hunter had destroyed half the community including the head leader. He was so caught in his thoughts, he didn't notice at first that the hunter appeared before him. But when he did, his eyes widened of shock.

"Surprised to see me, like this?" Hirokazu asked. Kouichi choked at his words.

"Y-you are... y-you are... you are a phantom?"

Indeed, the ex-hunter was dead. A tragic, but not none deserved death to be told, however Hirokazu could be glad that it hadn't been by the hands of his enemies and instead a trunk falling on top of him by a mere accident. Now, the days had changed for him and he helped the same kind of creatures he once had tried to kill, with this also repaying some well deserved debts.

Kouichi couldn't take his eyes from him. The terrible image of the gun and garlic loaded hunter completely crashed for him, for all eternity. Instead the picture of a sole and black phantom took its place, worked to a new death thanks to the extreme energy it took hiding from these things. Kouichi was happy he had his brother, who managed to save him many times from things like that. The ghost rarely went anywhere without his brother close by. The one and only time he had done so had landed to a catastrophe. Well, not entirely. The catastrophe became that he was sucked into a magical twister that took him to Takuya's roof. If he hadn't decided to haunt that sweet girl, who knew what could have happened to everything.

It was creepy, but the very same person who once tried to kill him had probably saved history.

Hirokazu however didn't seem that pleased over what he was, even though he would never be able to change this. Perhaps fate had something in store for him as well. When Kouichi had been younger, before he turned to a ghost, his old teacher Boko had taught him that every Destiny had its purpose, even if so just to breath. If any of these purposes would be destroyed then all balance of the world would be ruined and chaos would appear. It was this sort of that originally gave birth to the Universe.

"There are many forces in this world that can be counted for, don't ever forget that Kouichi my friend." Boko said under that feathery had he always wore.

Kouichi wouldn't be able to forget that. Not after all this. The ghost agreed to accompany Hirokazu for a while, until the sun would awaken his friends from their sleep. The ghost would help guarding the camp, so he didn't believe that anything drastic would happen too soon. Hirokazu still had many things to learn about ghosts and phantoms, and as there was yet some time, Kouichi decided this may be a better time for forgiveness and some time to teach the phantom what he was and what kind of powers it would supply him with.

* * *

The sun slowly rose over the dead land and the travellers got up. Outside Kouichi sat by the almost dead fire, waiting for everyone else to wake up. This morning it was Tomoki who ran out, half dressed since Izumi wanted time to dress alone. The little boy rain into Junpei's warm tent, waking him as well. No one dared to touch Takuya and Kouji when they were asleep, except for Kouichi since neither of them would be able to kill Kouichi anyway. Yet from what Kouichi could tell, they were yet asleep. But due to Junpei oversleeping his own cycle, they would still have to wait before continuing.

Two hours later the camp was packed and they could all continue. The snow lay thick before them, ghost never did anything to this so the travellers had to rely either on their wings or on Junpei who made the trail before them. It ended up that Junpei solemnly did one trail while the rest of them took other ways travelling. Izumi, Kouji and Takuya all knew how to fly. Kouichi floated above the snow, or in the snow, it didn't really matter and Tomoki... well he was walking. For that was yet another power he had, to walk on the snow. He lived on it, honestly.

The weather got colder as they walked. Soon they could see a great forest at the end, with no snow, how lovely. Maybe Takuya, Tomoki and Kouichi were mainly unaffected by the cold, even if Takuya could feel it yet not mind, the others cursed it. Izumi complained every minute that she could not feel her wings any more.

"No pain, no stain. We are almost there!" Kouichi cheered them on. Tomoki sighed running forward. Takuya flew closer to share some of his warm energy to Kouji. The two of them flew hand in hand. Izumi glared at him when he did this, wanting some warmth of her own. The Aquila landed standing on Junpei's shoulder and Junpei didn't notice her landing in return. He was too busy to fight his way through the snow.

They didn't see that someone did expect them. Five shadows, waiting in the dark.

"They are here. Let's get over with this, for Him. Go get them... Mortog!" a hissing male voice said.

Pincers clicked enthusiastically. A black shadow moved towards them. Eight legs, hairy and more eyes then you can count.

_Mortog..._

For it came as a surprise for them all when the snow blew up before them and a giant spider appeared. All eyes went wide when they could find this description in their worst nightmare. With a strike of his legs, all six were thrown away, scattered into heap all around. Takuya and Kouji were the first ones to get up, ready to fight, closely followed by Izumi and Kouichi. Tomoki summoned ice to his palms, trying to freeze the creatures, Junpei's hands glowed of sparks and electricity.

This would be a fight fit for a legend.

Six warriors and a Dark Demon Spider...

_TBC_

* * *

_Wohoho... suspense is killing you, right? Sorry to stop here, but I have to. I hope you guys don't tear me apart now, and please review. They cheer me up and spurt me to continue. _

_Shitza_


	13. Takuya's Big Bad Battle

_Argh, sorry I am late again guys... evil exams have been pouring over me so it has been really stressful. The Language-Bomb as I prefer calling it, when we get all the exams at one go. Aw... not to mention, I think I blew up my Latin exam. So much for an A this year. _

_Anyway, a story has to go on. Who knows what will happen... well, except me of course. _

_NEWS: Big news... the homepage link has changed. Recently I am helping out making Frontier Episode Guides for the wonderful website of Patamon's World. I also became added to the staff, as a Episode Guide Writer, which feels fabulous and I am very flattered to have joined. Hopefully it won't take that much of my time, my name hasn't changed from Shitza, even though on the forum is doesn't allow the usual bad words, so it is changed there. _

_I am not telling, yet... if I did then I wouldn't have any anonymous names at all. Shitza is sometimes a bit too international now, but I love it too much to change it. And if you want to know my real name, I can post it on the biography page again. _

_Anyway, sorry I took so long. Had a very busy week, but holiday is up for a week, as we call it "Sports Holiday" in reality February Holiday. Been longing sooooo much for this! Honestly, I am sooooo tired of school at the moment!_

_Shitza_

_Ps: Facts about me... I hate spiders! (shudders) And this chapter, has one of my biggest nightmares... (faints)_

_Pps: Later on there is a major jump in time... main reason, even I am tired of snow. The snow has been staying for quite the while up here, and guess who is PRETTY pissed of of snow by now. I know some love snow, but I am clearly NOT one of those. Can't wait for spring... and the sun. _

_Ppps: I've tried to do my best to keep the T rating on this chapter, but with this kind of idea it is hard to keep a readable rating. Even though I think many of you are old enough for such ideas, but to be on the secure side. _

**Chapter 13**

**Takuya's Big Bad Battle**

_and more..._

_Mortog... many tales are told of him. He is called the Black Widow or the Spider, out of reasons. On Earth, you would see him as the world's largest spider. But in Nemorisa he was one of their greatest fears. His nets were stronger then the hardest steel and he ate with a hunger far beyond death, for his stomach always growled after more, meat and sometimes, even souls._

_So how did it become that such a great and dangerous creature would ever exist? To know this, let us go back in history to the day of Jija, when the darkness fell for the light. When the Ancient ones managed to hold back the darkness, and win for the worlds. However, as the darkness exploded shards of the power fell to the ground, mainly infecting the land and killing. Yet one creature, a little spider known as the Lone Shade (or Black Widow), in the face of death it was granted powers. One by one, as the ancient ones slowly died or disappeared, the spider grew in power absorbing the protecting powers they left. Early he grew for a thirst of meat and souls, and made nets big enough to swallow towns. The Spider was chased away by powerful magicians, for back then he was yet not as massive as he is now. And in the mountains he sought for revenge and hunger. _

_Mortog returned around five hundred years ago, now bigger and more terrible then ever before. He was yet put on a diet in his mountains, living only on stupid mountain climbers and passing travellers. Even before he left, people feared them and were happy he had chosen the mountains as his home. But they were really wrong. For he came back and deserted huge parts of the planet. Finally, after a year satisfying his hunger he returned to the mountains, to rest. During his raid, the strongest of all creatures had tried desperately to stop him, in vain. The creatures of all kind of races all became his dinner, spiced with even more power to add to his now leathery diamond shell for body. Eyes placed on every leg made him see everything around him. Black he was, with a red cross on his back, purple poisonous pincers for mouth, saliva dropping like corroding acid. Pieces of the net wrapped around parts of his body, and that net blasting from his body. _

_And still, no one knows his weaknesses..._

_

* * *

_

It looked so dark. Mortog threw them around like rubbish, not caring where they landed. Takuya winced as he landed on the ground. Izumi flew into the same direction as him, hitting the rock beside him. The Aquila shrieked in pain.

Junpei tried to punch him, but with every punch nothing seemed to happen. Kouji and Kouichi had decided to combine their attacks, but yet it only seemed to tickle the angry spider.

Tomoki lay not too far away, a deep gash on his forehead. Luckily the MistHimi had not been hit by the spider himself, rather by a flying rock so at least his wound wouldn't be poisonous. But Takuya knew they had to beat this thing soon, somehow. He just ha no idea what to do.

Izumi got up, ready for another round. Her body, like each of them, had received a strange glow. Hers was swirling purple, his golden red. Kouji had a silver blue colour and Kouichi purple dark. Junpei had sparkling yellow, Tomoki misty green. The Widow had a black colour around him. The magic around them was crackling the ground and for those who couldn't fly it became a trouble. Takuya got up, his left leg aching. He wished they could retreat, but the spider just kept chasing them. Soon they would probably die, here, like this.

But it didn't mean he would fight all that he could muster.

"Pyro Barrage!" he said shooting fire from his palms. Still, no effect. Instead one of the spiders leg hit him in the stomach, making him loose his breath. He fell back to the ground.

Kouji was by his side faster then you could react. The vampire bent down to the dragon, kissing him on the mouth reassuringly. The vampire could remember the last time he had been face to face with a creature like this, and he too had barely made it out alive. But back then, Umbra had been the one to flee, not wanting to spoil her ultimate powers on a simple vampire. She had no idea what kind of vampire he was.

A vampire who sought revenge.

Even though he managed to make it out alive, the memories still scared him. Blinded by rage and hate he had sought her out in a mass of dead souls, tried to rip her cursed soul out of the shell she called body. But in his rage, blinded by the love for his brother, it had almost cost him his own life. In the pool of the dead he closely fell, and barely made it out to live.

So, as well as he survived the attempt, he couldn't help feeling scared. Yet he hated Umbra... hated her even more then he loved the dragon he desperately tried to protect.

Izumi flew upwards. "Hurricane Gale" she shouted, her hands entwined with her magical powers. A painful tornado hit the spider. Mortog however being a creature of pain, didn't feel anything more then a slight tingle on his legs. A thick, oozy, slimy, greenish web shot from the mouth, catching the Aquila in the air.

"Izumi!" Tomoki shouted blowing ice on thee monster. He too soon was trapped beneath a web.

"So hungry, for so long. Give me your souls, you flesh and blood. Feed me!"

Mortog was about to get himself a neat meal, when Junpei blocked him with his bare hands. The Raiki had to use all his strength to prevent this creature from hurting them, paid with a price. Poison oozed down to his shoulders, the sharp pincers digging into the flesh beneath the rock hard skin. Junpei screamed, not letting go.

Kouichi floated over, the darkness around him growing stronger. "Dark Master!" he shouted, the glow around him completely covering his colours from view. A shadow went through the spider, who this screamed of real pain. Three of the legs had fallen of. Kouichi came stumbling out, his powers not enough really to completely cut through. He was thrown away, to land on the ground, completely exhausted.

"Kouichi!" Kouji yelled in fear. A light sword appeared in his hands. Takuya backed to make himself ready to fire as well. But he couldn't see how he could do anything. What did this thing have for weaknesses? What did spiders truly fear, well except for the facts this was no normal spider... nothing seemed to beat this thing... unless...

A tiny piece of a brilliant idea formed in his head. Perhaps it could work, even though chances would be quite small. The spider would attack them as long as it could see where they all went, and probably it could see through any disguise. But it was a dark creature.

Indeed, as Kouji frantically tried to avenge his brother, Takuya couldn't help notice that the spider seemed to fear light above the rest of their elements. When Kouji attacked the spider was yet too strong to be completely affected by the sword in his hand, but it was blinded by the light. Blinded, which gave Takuya the courage to continue.

Kouji was thrown backwards and Takuya rushed to his side. The vampire looked a bit beaten up, but not severely hurt, which was good since Takuya seriously needed his help. Kouji was a bit surprised when the dragon caught him from hitting the ground.

"Kouji, your power is Lobo's light, isn't it? I need you to light up this whole area, or else there is no way any of us will be able to beat him."

Kouji looked really confused. "What in the world do you mean? He asked.

"Just trust me!" Takuya said reassuringly, his hands lighting up again. Kouji nodded, cast a quick look around the disaster around them and sighed. He had no idea what Takuya was planning, but he hoped that the fires hadn't gone to his head. The whole area? That would take a lot out of him.

Perhaps even his life.

His whole body started to glow as he centred around the core of magic that ran through his veins, the light Lobo once had possessed so ever gracefully. The vampire howled as the light expanded around him, covering the area of the battlefield. Sweat mixed with blood ran down his forehead.

Takuya saw the spider retreat. The dragon was more used to light, as he had the brother power running through his veins, giving him a mild protection. Still, he knew he had to finish this very soon.

None of them knew this was written down as destiny, and whatever it really meant, who knew...

In his rage, fire burned from his body and he went to beat that thing, from one leg to the other. The fires increased and Mortog gave out a shriek that could be heard all the way back to Monster City. Takuya backed, holding his hands over his ears. He really needed to settle this... and soon before his ears would blow up.

Mortog made a clumsy attempt to attack, yet without his ability to see his so called strength had dropped to the ground. All that was left was to get rid of him, how was a bit harder since there was yet a thick leathery hide to stab, and he didn't have anything for it. How he wished he had a sword, or something in the lines of that. For a brief moment he could simply picture one, polished white steel, pearly handle with rubies in it. (Obs, this is not from the series, just pure imagination.)

Takuya opened his eyes, nearly fell over when he realised he was holding something heavy in his hands. It was, to his amazement and bewilderment, the same sword he had pictured himself with. It was glowing red however, as if it could feel the holder's current fire.

He didn't take any time to hesitate. Instead he knew what had to be done, and Therefore he charged on to get over with this. Pictures and memories of his friends and Kouji flashed before his blinded eyes. Tears streamed down his face and fell to the ground as the blade cut into the monster. A new ear-splitting noise could be heard when the blade cut Mortog's heart and then Takuya knew no more. He fell into an endless pool of darkness, and from that... it would take a while for him to regain consciousness.

However, not too far away five figures turned and went into different directions.

"Typical, so typical. Loosing to a mere weakling like that. Anyway Mortog, you just happened to be the weakest of us all. Now we know, they are not that strong as they claim. Wiping them out will be easy enough. Oh well, Schakal... you are next up... you remember, the kid you happened to devour and taste so good. There is another one of the same blood, who even has a taste of magic in him. Go get him, Schakal. You know what you must do!"

* * *

Days came and went, the climate didn't seem to get any nicer for any of them, and the snow fell as a thick layer on them. They managed to walk out from the endless land of the dead and find a small village inhabited by Lupas, which were an unknown wolf-like creature, or at least unknown here on Earth. They were distant relatives with werewolves, yet they didn't turn to werewolves just once every full moon nor did they transform. They were merely females, reproducing using travellers they could snatch. Of course they were highly selective around their preys and didn't just pick the closest traveller thy could find. No, the ones they did not like they killed, so all males tended to be careful around them.

As four the six warriors, being five males and one female of tremendous s powers, they were on a really high scale... yet as Kouichi seemed to know a lot about them, having been there before hmm... he forewarned them before they appeared. The Lupas soon learned not to touch them, especially not Kouji and Takuya who surely reminded them about it. A small flare in the hair or a light sword under your throat did miracles. Luckily enough, the elder soon taught the younger girls to calm down, so they weren't chased away. Instead the tenseness around their arrival calmed down and they were allowed to stay in a small cave. This meant of course that things became cramped up, and quite uncomfortable at times. But as the weather became worse and worse, it looked as if they would have to stay there for a few days. And days soon became weeks, that became months... for not in many hundred years had Nemorisa seen such a bad weather, and never before had it been so much snow.

As the winter continued, going from Tisteria, to Miama, to Toira (where Tomoki was celebrated as well as Izumi had been) and finally to Harana, which flared some hope to their lost souls as the sun finally started to shine. When this was done Nemorisa had been covered by at least 3 metre snow. To say, it took a while to get started again.

The journey went on, with huge efforts as it took a few days for the snow to melt away. It is incredible that snow could disappear so easily. With the empty space the snow left, their cheerfulness returned. Izumi sang happily, sounding like a mass of playful birds. Junpei looked pleased as well feeling a bit more moveable then usable and not as stiff as he had done during the winter. Tomoki looked a little frightened as he had never experienced the warm season outside the Ice country, but soon his fears grew to childish happiness and Kouichi took responsible to watch over him as no one else seemed to do. Takuya and Kouji were a bit too occupied as soon as people scattered away. Kouichi, not wanting to witness Kouji's frantic games gladly took the job. Even a ghost had his limits.

Yet as the spring slowly came, new problems started to turn up, and not just the normal ones. Once every year, at the exact time of the year, the mating season started in Nemorisa. Of course not every creature was affected... young ones would still have to wait, and as for ghost, they are dead so what would be the point of it? Junpei did get some of the enormous amount of warmth inside of him, but not enough to make him do anything stupid since he is thick-skull as well. No, the major differences started in one single place of their gang. And even if Kouji tried to strangle his overwhelming feelings, he couldn't. Even Takuya could feel the difference in himself and his blood. His blood grew warmer, he felt a lot warmer then usual and no matter what he did his eyes always kept a close watch after Kouji.

It continued like this until they reached yet another village, close to the Elven Woods. This village looked quite unusual to the facts that it was completely made of wood. And with wood it doesn't mean just ordinary wooden houses. No, the streets, the houses, the furniture and oil lamps. Everything was made out of wood.

Tomoki managed to find an inn for them to stay in. Meanwhile Izumi was telling Takuya off from using any of his fire power while they were there, they did not want to risk any fires in their sleep. Takuya did quite as well get the message, but mainly his mind was set on other things. Stupid dragon...

The innkeeper was a strangely nice Chimera, a mixture between a lion, a goat and a dragon. It was told that he had lived in the village for over a hundred years and never done anything to harm you. As they richly paid for three rooms, using Izumi's account, they all split to get some rest. Once more Tomoki decided to stay with the Aquila, who was now one of his closest friends. Junpei was yet again whisked away by Kouichi, who didn't seem to mind at all. Junpei happily told Kouichi about the Raiki lands and Kouichi would one day happily visit. As for Takuya and Kouji, who knew hat happened inside their locked doors? But from the judge of the sounds, something extraordinary and yet not the wisest of all.

For all things suffered of consequences, and bonding like this, would clearly be one of them.

* * *

Little sister... they are cute, cuddle and awfully obstinate. At least, that was how Jenrya described his sister Shuiichon. She was cute and wonderful to hug whenever he felt sad or upset (about a certain Shapeshifter who just happened to be away during the most important season for any male.) He also happened to be a Kitsune fox, a rare kind demon fox, who was not anywhere related to the demons you have heard about before.

He also happened to be the current leader of the largest Kitsune clan. His father had died in a war a few years ago, and now he had taken the role of leading the clan, peacefully as he hoped.

Shuiichon, his little sister wasn't so old so he also made sure she felt protected. He was always by her side, no matter how much Takato would bash him for an adventure together. Shuiichon always came first in his life. She was the little angel that lit his heavy burden.

At the moment his clan stayed with the elves, healing their wounds. Nemorisa had truly turned upside down these days. Rumours said that the Five Horrors were back hunting, not to mention something worse waking up. Something that should never have been meant to be born.

Feeling desperate he told his captains to remain with the elves, in case something happened. Thereafter he made an attempt to find the only saviours that would be able to help them. Rumours said that the Six warriors had been reborn as well, a possibility that this world could be saved. He had heard from Takato, that some unusual travellers made their way through Nemorisa, and that the Shapeshifter had heard from the Dragon Lord and General Daisuke, that one happened to be a strange dragon perhaps... the last of the news became, they had been sighted not too far away.

The first thing that met the young Kitsune was a utmost strange scene. When he came to the village, in which he had been told he would find the six warriors, the first thing that met him was a tornado filled with ice. Jenrya brought Shuiichon behind him, trying to protect her from this strange power. He had never before seen something this powerful. Could this be one of the Horrors?

"Izumi, calm down! If you have to blow us up, then at least do so in a place everything will end up hurting us." a dragon said from the ground.

"Tomoki, that goes for you too! Honestly you two, what is the matter with you?" a pale ghost said, looking quite scared for being a ghost.

Jenrya looked up to see a female Aquila in the air, directing the tornado to hit some more houses. It changed direction as it almost collided going after some Chimera. Suddenly a mixture of lightning and light struck, and the wind died.

"Knock it off... Izumi, I don't care and will never care why you are attacking others for, but stop this before I decide to kill you instead. Honestly, a mad Aquila is not what we need!"

Jenrya flinched. This guy seemed to be a vampire.. Next to him stood a Raiki. What were they? No normal group of creatures, that was for sure. He had never seen a Raiki, an Aquila, a MistHimi, a Ghost, a Vampire and a Dragon behave so disciplined towards each other, normally a Dragon would try to rip a Vampire's throat and MistHimis blow Aquilas to the other side of the world. Well, he had seen a werewolf and a dragon be together as a couple and he was officially the boyfriend to a Shapeshifter, but this had to be a joke, right?

He looked back to make sure Shuiichon was yet with him, the girl would often run away and to his horror she seemed to have decided upon one of her little jokes again. He looked back to the strange group, only to find her running towards them, laughing. He froze feeling petrified. His little Shuiichon could be in serious danger.

He hurried to get over there, to defend his sister no matter what. But halfway he stopped feeling even more confused. The fight between the creatures ceased at once as the young little fox approached them, laughing lightly.

The Aquila Izumi flew down to her, a staring contest developing between them. Suddenly she smiled and hugged the little creature.

"She's so cute!" she said chirping. The other five creatures approached the small girl, examining her.

"Strange, what could a small fox like her be doing all over this place?" the ghost said, his hand running through her. Shuiichon laughed and made an attempt to grab it. Kouichi flinched and for a moment his body was solid enough for her to dig her little teeth into it, a sort of hello from the foxes.

"Yikes, she's got sharp teeth!" he said.

"Kouichi, you are a ghost! How can you possibly feel teeth being dead?" the dragon corrected folding his arms under his chest.

The ghost looked pretty annoyed when he raised his hand to show teeth marks on it. "I meant to say sharp magical teeth, she could bite through my plasma!" he corrected. The vampire, who appeared to have some similarities with the ghost, grabbed the hand and examined it. "Seems you are right, those are teeth marks." The vampire ran his hand over the mark, and it disappeared. "Either she is quite powerful or just royal."

"Royal?" the dragon asked.

"Power isn't the only way to gain power here Takuya. Royal blood can be just as effective and as Kitsunes are Light creature, just like Kouji, they can more easily penetrate a Dark creature like Kouji." The small MistHimi said. The others nodded while the dragon Takuya shook his head. But yet, it made some sense.

Jenrya once again hurried his steps, yet not running. He held his hands secretly on a knife in the sleeve of his green tunic, which was embroidered with a huge orange Chinese dragon.

Shuiichon looked up and laughed before running back to her brother. He hugged her, relieved that she was unhurt. The violet haired little girl laughed showing him her cute little fangs.

"Look, there is another fox!" The small MistHimi pointed out. Jenrya suddenly froze, feeling alert yet again. Shuiichon backed behind her brother, feeling his tenseness. Jenrya slid out the knife he had hidden, not caring really at whom he pointed it, but he didn't like this feeling. Something felt out of control. And for foxes like him, he needed to know exactly what was happening, or he did not trust it.

* * *

A small lamp flickered above them. The Chimera sat by the bar, cleaning some glasses with a dirty towel. Kouji returned with some drinks; mineral water for Izumi, ice slush for Tomoki, some mixed thorn-juice for Junpei (which looked like it would get stuck in your throat if you dared to drink it), wine for his brother, green tea for Takuya and a glass of A blood for himself.

He also had brought their new friends drinks, for some odd reason foxes fancied pure syrup... yes, it sounds yucky but they liked the sweet taste. The small girl grabbed her glass at once, starting to drink small gulps. Kouji sat back down, scratching a new scar on his neck.

Their first meeting with the clan leader didn't turn out to be so friendly. Jenrya was a skilled fighter even if he truly did dislike it. Kouji had been unlucky to get hit, only to protect Takuya from getting the knife through his back, a scar on the neck was really nothing compared to what could have happened. Izumi had escaped hiding in some clouds, calling forth storms from there. Only problem she had was that storms are quite unpredictable and truly hard to control.

Junpei had received a knife on his knee, yet it didn't do much damage. It simply got stuck half an inch into the rock skin, not doing any harm at all. Tomoki was the one who managed to end the fight, freezing the ground underneath the foxes feet. Kouichi stole the knives Jenrya used, knives didn't hurt him. The ghost had received a few more bites and had later been cured by his brother.

It had taken a few moments to calm the stressed creature, and even more minutes to convince him into a peaceful chat. The village was close to deserted, most creatures had fled with the storms earlier. And slowly the pieces of information had attached themselves to Jenrya's mind and he could understand what was going on. And he felt quite guilty for attacking them. Shuiichon sat on his lap, fast asleep. The Kitsune looked down at her, his mouth brining out a pure loving smile.

"She's so cute, how old is she?" Izumi asked, her hand caressing the little girl's cheek.

"Just six, and too young really to see battles." Jenrya said with a sigh, hugging her. Shuiichon said something in her sleep, which made him smile even wider. The little girl grabbed her brother's hair with one hand while her mouth opened. Jenrya poked her nose with his finger, and she immediately attacked it.

"She's wild, that one!" Kouichi pointed out. The ghost did not appreciate Kitsunes of the simply reason that they could hurt him in some significant ways.

Kouji satisfied his hunger while as the others exchanged words with the newcomers .His mind kept thinking the same. "What were foxes doing here? Was there any problems, unknown problems or was this just a warning of more obstacles?

Takuya looked over at the vampire, who seemed to be buried in thoughts. Without warning he placed his hand on top of Kouji's. The vampire looked up and smiled.

Jenrya fixed his eyes upon the lovesick pair. He had once heard about the Dragon Lord of the Valley being together with a werewolf, but this seemed to be ridiculous. Of all things vampires usually bragged about their pure race, and now this.

The afternoon continued and as the hours grew longer Jenrya told them about his situation. That his clan was hiding with the elves, that they were fleeing from the terrors that had appeared all over Nemorisa. He was highly surprised to hear how they had beaten and defeated one of them, the Spider himself. The sun soon set and as the time went more people went sleepy. Tomoki had curled up in his chair, feet dangling down. Junpei was yawning and Takuya's head kept dropping to Kouji's shoulder.

"Looks like we won't get anything more done here, really. Best for you guys to turn in, we'll talk more tomorrow." Kouichi said. The others, who had not fallen asleep yet, nodded and rose from their seats. Jenrya still sat, hugging his sister. Kouichi floated over to him, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Get some sleep. I'll stay guarding the corridors anyway. Well, since I am dead without sleep for quite the years."

Jenrya nodded and took his sister in his arms, walking of to their room. Kouichi followed, like always floating some inches above the ground.

* * *

Sleep has always been an important fact in all history and everywhere. Yes, a few creatures don't need sleep but they are rare. Ghost, phantoms and poltergeists are the only known creatures who has mastered sleeping, mainly since they are dead and just plasma.

Being a ghost Kouichi could have forgotten the importance of sleeping, yet since he lived with his brother, who as a vampire needed rest like most creatures (Kouji's soul still possessed a real body), the ghost still remembered the days when they had been young, sharing the same bed. He cherished those happy memories, it was one of the few things he had left from his days as a vampire. Memories. Like when they had been four, being taught by their grandmother how to fly and Kouji had dropped down from the pole he was supposed to start from. How it had been his brother that had driven and supported him to continue.

He was already missing pieces of the old time, when it had been just the two of them. Him, getting into trouble all the time and Kouji fighting to save his neck. But now, what did he need savings for? Not much... he was a ghost, yet still stupid from time to time. Yes, he missed his brother who these days shared love for more people then just him. After that he and Takuya had gotten together he couldn't help feeling lonely from time to time. The bend the twins shared was not as complete as it used to, and yet it would never truly break. He was happy for them, happy that Kouji had found the peace he so rightfully deserved and was allowed to start his own journeys. Not dragging his "dead" brother after him. Kouichi chuckled as he started to sing. He sang sometimes when it was too quiet around him, and unlike the main ghost-lyrics you could hear in creepy dungeons, sounding so sad, this was different. It wasn't happy, no ghost was actually happy for being dead. It was more a small light of hope, a legend among the ghosts. That one day, when they would not be needed, that there would be light for them as well.

(A/N: I know bans lyrics and songs, but the lyric below is my own and the only copyright that would exist belongs to me, if it must belong somewhere. And, there is no music written, so if you wonder this was just made to fit the story.)

_1:_

_Shadows behind, covered in darkness  
__My heart will fly, on broken dreams  
__A light forms, in blue deep skies  
__A hope lights, within deep streams_

_I'm alone, in the forest  
__Creatures I forever fears  
__Looks at me, I'm feeling naked  
__To the unknown haunted tears_

_Chorus:_

_Please, light my heart  
__Please, light my hopes  
__Please light the darkness  
__Of the unknown_

_Forever we try, to remain hidden  
__From the darkness we all fear  
__The death we believe that could take us  
__Our immortal souls liberty hear_

_2:_

_My soul cries for freedom  
__To a world we all will find  
__Not the dead and cold nights  
__Light to calm us, so be kind_

_The star gazes down from heaven  
__A justice to the light we say  
__A lantern waddling across the haven  
__Giving light to the way._

_Chorus:_

_Please, light my heart  
__Please, light my hopes  
__Please light the darkness  
__Of the unknown_

_Forever we try, to remain hidden  
__From the darkness we all fear  
__The death we believe that could take us  
__Our immortal souls liberty hear_

_Repeat_

Unaware, a door suddenly opened and once he had finished the song he could hear someone approaching. A dark staff appeared in his hand, in case but once he turned around he saw it was just the little girl Jenrya had brought with him. Shuiichon. The girl looked at him, her eyes reflecting a deep wondering. She said something, but in the language she had been taught in, not the common language everyone else spoke in. It sounded like small barks, howls and yaps. Pretty cute!

They sat in front of each other, having a silent conversation without words. Shuiichon was curious, she had never seen a ghost before and Kouichi was curious as well. He had never met the daughter of the Kitsune Clan.

The sun slowly rose, and when Jenrya woke up he received a shock. His Shuiichon was gone from her bed. Not caring about dressing properly, he ran out in the corridor simply in his trousers, only to find, in his relief, that Shuiichon had fallen asleep in a corner, which Kouichi kept a close watch over to make sure that the little life would receive no harm at all, and just sweet dreams.

_TBC_

_Woah... not too bad eh? Sorry, I am ending it here. I seriously wanted to ad more, like the meeting with elves (probably next chapter, spoiler!), yet with that there would be more action and with that part this fight would seem like nothing. So, sorry everyone, stopping here for today. Anyway, hope you enjoyed reading. Review replies are on their way, so no fuss... I am working on it!_

_Oh, and continue reviewing! Your opinions are the best! It is your reviews that helps me write, yet you hardly know what I mean probably. _

_Oh well, bye! See you next time, sooner then ever. It is holiday! (walks away, cheering)_

_Shitza_


	14. The Impossible

_Bonjour!_

_Woah, finally... chapter 14, wohoo... and a puzzle-maker for me since it took a lot of thinking to get the introduction right. So, if there is something about this chapter that really confuses you, I'll understand that. And tell me about it, and I can do like last time people got confused over things, write two parts of it. Because this became a whole chart for me about the creatures... and I can say I had to look through the whole monster list, literally. I mean, there are really many creatures that has been told through folklores and fairy tales. Sorry this chapter took a while, even though I was free for a week to make it. But getting real information takes a while. Whew... more pages on the notepad. _

_Another thing is that I finally got my hands upon Tamers, which took the week to watch through. But now I can finally get the Digimon stories to sound like the Digimon story. And I have to say, it was better then I thought it would... well, it didn't add the usual excitement to me, but the whole thing was pretty good. _

_And this chapter starts of in another way. One of my reviewers wanted to know how Yamato and Taichi met. Guessing there can be more out there wondering the same, the first part after introduction is mainly Taito. _

_We have two more character introductions and they can seem OOC, but believe me. Making two Digimon characters into elves are harder then you think. (sigh) _

_And FINALLY, for everyone who wonders who the real boss is, he'll make an appearance. Wohoo, I've been waiting for this. _

_Also, I am sorry this chapter took longer then I thought it would, I just stumbled across a mild writers block and the ideas took a while to come. Fighting writers blocks are hard, so if something in this chapter is weird or stupid... blame it on that I at least tried to fight it. _

_Shitza_

_Ps: Shitza's favourites on Tamers_

_Fav Tamers Characters: Ryo and Shuiichon_

_Fav Digimon: Calumon, Terriermon and Impmon_

_Fav Episode: The one where Shuiichon and Lopmon met. Stood out a little from the series and brought your thoughts to other things, plus, it was was pretty cute. _

_What is bugging me about things: 1, how Guilmon took so long munching on the Guilmon bread Takato and the gang bread._

_2, Why dubbed series have to sound like a comic show when I know that there are so much little humour in it, really. (Don't ask then why Terriermon stays as a favourite Digimon. It must be all of the Moumentais.) _

**Chapter 14**

**The Impossible**

_There are many creatures born in Nemorisa, that has been told. With every birth in Nemorisa, there is something unique and yet each birth brings an inner battle. Do you have any clue what I can mean with this? I'll tell you... _

_In Nemorisa there is something called Yin and Yang. I know what you think, there is a symbol like that known as the balance between the differences. Like summer and winter, sun and moon, light and darkness. But for Nemorisa, the Tai-Chi (Yin Yang) is a big problem... _

_Nemorisa is a world that relies a lot on balance between things, balance between elements and balance between life. Demons tend to try and destroy this balance and are many times close to doing so. Really Nemorisa should not have any great problems except for demon problems... but inner battles always appear as early as birth. Out of the perspective that the ten elements are made of opposites. And as well as you say opposites attracts, it always starts out as the same. _

_Fights..._

_These opposites stands between water and fire, wood and ice, wind and earth, light and darkness as well as thunder and steel. _

_The ten elements' descriptions are quite known, even though the creature born with a specific element rarely follows it. The only signs we can see would be that Elysian born creatures have a complete trust in their strength, since they don't have any inner battles. But for a creature born as, for example a dragon (which normally is a fire creature), has a great disturbance if he is born in Livia, the month of water. _

_Another calamity is also caused when the months changes, for if you are born the same second Harana passes to Livia, you don't survive. A human being would not notice these changes but creatures of fire surely does. It is like the fire within them dies. _

_Yin and Yang is a symbol of the calamity... the war between them to regain power. Sometimes these fights can be seen between creatures, but normally they simply try to ignore each other. A few times in history they clash together, the Mermaid war where the mermaids flooded the dragons disturbing the balance long enough to open holes into dark dimensions. The Vampire combat where a Light vampire and a Dark vampire destroyed each other with their power. The Troll War VI, where the trolls destroyed half the population of Aquilas. There will be no details how they did it, but the Aquilas rarely forgive trolls. _

_Of course not everything is fighting, but it is a rough world. This is an international problem or the planet. _

_Lastly, the ten elements and their emotional properties. Obs, do remember that not all of the facts below are accurate as individuals don't always have things in common as no creatures are the same, even if they are the same race. _

_Fire is always painted like a sun, symbolising energy and life. Creatures of fire has an unreadable amount of energy, and few times brains. As well as fire also symbolises courage and forwardness. The largest group of Fire creatures are dragons of the fiery type... and the negative, meaning dark version, of these kind of creatures are Hellhounds. _

_Water is painted like a drop of water. It symbolises calmness and the relief of stress as well as changes. Many times it also symbolises purity, but that can be discussed. Water tends to flow without stop, yet it is a lot more straight then fire. Water creatures are mainly found in the sea and in lakes. Mermaids are a good example. The negative or dark version is called Ahuizotl. Water as darkness can also symbolise endings as about no creature of Nemorisa knows how to swim. _

_Wood is marked as a leaf. It symbolises stability as well as continuation. It is also a symbol of life, life in the meaning that everything grows and develops. It is yet a symbol of beginnings as everything grows from being nothing to be everything. Wood creatures are gentle, elves tends to symbolise wood as elves shares a strong bond with trees and nature. The negative creature is known as the terrible Basilisk. _

_Ice symbolises the opposite of wood and it is symbolised by a snowflake, the weakness and breakable power. Ice is a strong element except for the facts that it breaks. It also has an immense weakness against elements such as fire, wood, earth and steel, which hinders it. Ice is however a cold element that few like. MistHimi are the main known creatures and the negative ones are called Harpies. _

_Wind is the sensible element that can feel things. As wind is very much wide, spread it is also a wise element. Wind is symbolised, unusual enough by a heart as it feels more then other elements. It is most known that Aquilas has deep secrets of the wind hidden. The negative beast known is called Cockatrice. _

_Earth is the insensitive and the most greedy of the elements symbolised by a ring. It shares special bonds with wood, as wood and Earth works a lot together. Earth creatures can be quite dull, and many times pretty stupid. Earth also have better sides as it has an remarkable strength and stability against many other forces, except for the ones that can blow it away. Wizards and Witches likes to call themselves the ultimate Earth creatures, and the really known negative force is called zombies. _

_Light is the brightest element symbolised by a falling star. Light is a judging element, but it has other sides that we more think about, hope, trust, belief and so on. Light isn't always as gentle as it looks, however it is a pure element that cleanses evil. Light likes to be symbolised by Unicorns and the darker version is mainly symbolised by... (you are going to hate me for this) Light vampires. _

_Darkness is symbolised by a spirit picture (round ball curled up in a tail, crest of kindness inspiration). It is most known as being evil, yet it symbolises understanding. Dark creatures are however mostly evil, yet there are a few known as ghosts and phantoms that stands out. However, a true dark and evil creature would be the Gorgon, or perhaps the Chimera or a Manticore... it is difficult to say. _

_Thunder is symbolised by a clap of thunder, it stands for unpredictability. Like thunder storms, you never know when it is going to hit you, before it does. The kindest Thunder Creatures are known as Raikis. Many believe that the fierce looking Howler would be the negative part, but it is really a kind creature. No, the dark one is the Girallon, a monkey you will have problems to get away from. _

_Steel is the predictable element symbolised by a tire. Steel creatures are normally hard to find, as they avoid other contacts. They are also straight forwards and simply concentrates on their goals. Steel creatures haven't come with a straight forward good example of their kind, because the most usual creature, the werewolf, has been sorted into the negative pack. Were creatures. _

_

* * *

_

It was a grey day for the Valley, and Taichi, the leader of all the Dragons breathing fire, sat by his desk planning out strategies. There was a mini model over the Dragon's Death, the battlefield all fights started by. And yet he couldn't see how they would be able to do this, defeat the darkness. It seemed impossible.

"When, when!" he cried out in frustrating, awakening the person that lay napping in his bed. Yamato opened his eyes to see his boyfriend cry out in frustration. Unlike his little brother, Yamato had more patience yet it was slowly leaking away. The werewolf moved closer to his lover, attacking his neck with kisses. Taichi shivered slightly, calming down. Things were looking bad for all of them, for everything.

It was quite ironic really. The first time Taichi had been set to war, he had met Yamato. Yet back then, they were enemies. They had duelled with each other countless times You must wonder how they got together, well, it is not that complicated. During one of the duels Taichi got dragon-napped. The kidnapper was a female phoenix who since long had wanted this gorgeous creature to be her mate, unfortunately for her Yamato, who wanted to fight, found her and together they fought and won. It was somewhere during that that the two of them found out that they meant something for each other. And it didn't take that long before Taichi dared to confess his love. All though, that is another story,

Taichi moaned as Yamato roamed his hands over his back, massaging him. The werewolf knew his stuff, and it felt really good. Taichi didn't hesitate as the two of them moved back to the bed, just as the door had to knock.

"Let's ignore it!" the werewolf said feeling slightly more frisky then usual.

Taichi complied as their shirts were ripped of. Whoever it was behind that irritating door started to knock louder. Taichi didn't care until he heard an angry voice behind shouting...

"Taichi... Yamato... I know you are in there so open the freaking door, will yah!"

It was Daisuke, Taichi's irritating cousin. Taichi sighed sitting up, hearing a muffled growl from the bed. The dragon reluctantly opened, feeling his cousins gaze at his chest. Daisuke's cheeks went bright red before he handled his cousin a red envelope. Then he hurried away, wanting to get away before his cousin would blow him into smithereens. Taichi sighed, somehow the whole family had fallen for fury creatures.

The brunette closed the door behind him and burned the top of the envelope, opening it. There was a letter inside, a letter for him. It said...

_Dear Lord_

_I am sorry I haven't reported for a while, just recently the Six Warriors passed through the village, unscathed so far. They have fought and killed Mortog, the spider. The human that was with them has somehow also been turned into a real full life dragon. They also met up with the Kitsune leader, Jenrya. I am sending over a message to the Shapeshifters to find Takato, to say where his little fox went. _

_Best Wishes_

_Golgomesh_

Taichi smiled. For once there was good news. He walked straight over to the model he had, pinpointing out the village. They were getting close and they were getting powerful.

* * *

Sigh, sigh and even more sighs. Izumi couldn't stop sighing. Over one night things had turned upside down. Literally... the Aquila had to be carried away to prevent her from doing something nasty. Gravitation spells are not funny, she was lucky she had wings to hinder her from falling anywhere. Unlucky, foe her, she had stumbled over an angry witch who had hit her with this spell. Luckily it wasn't permanent, but so far the guys had to help her out.

Takuya was in a good mood this morning, the sun was shining and the spring was here. Kouji was like always walking beside him. The vampires brother, Kouichi, floated not too far away, guarding the little girl Shuiichon from doing bad things, much to her brother's amazement she didn't. For some reason there was now a pretty cute bond between them, a good bond of friendship.

Izumi sighed again as Junpei carried her over his shoulder. Tomoki walked beside them, looking up at her from time to time. He felt sorry for her.

At the moment they had just entered the Magical Elven forest, home of the elves. Elves were creatures of Wood, they had strong bonds with trees and loved the nature. There are five kinds of elves; high elves, wood elves, light elves, stream elves (water elves) and dark elves. Stream elves, who didn't live in this part of Nemorisa, were close to extinct since their homes were hunted for treasures.

Jenrya had taken the lead for them, leading them back to his pack of foxes. The fox was eager to return back to his pack, to tell them some great news for once. Not only had they lost their lands to darkness, but also lives for nothing. Some of his own clan-members didn't trust him and he needed trust in these dark times. Perhaps if he managed to do this right they would accept him for real.

"Are we there yet?" Tomoki asked bouncing up and down. Jenrya shook his head. A few minutes later the MistHimi wondered the same thing, with the same answer. The third time a hand clapped over his mouth before he had time uttering a word. Izumi could feel not the fox, but Kouji tense slightly starting to get really annoyed.

Don't mind him, I have a boyfriend who is a lot worse then him.

"Really, who? What's his name?" Kouichi asked still keeping an eye of the energetic little girl.

"Oh, you have met him already."Jenrya said. "His name is Takato, a Shapeshifter. A good friend to the dragons. He is cousin to the king of the Metamorphic Sea."

"A real royalty then, how on Earth did the two of you meet?" Junpei asked, setting down Izumi whose curse seemed to have finally lifted.

Izumi tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I know a lot about that guy. The Shapeshifters likes to keep an eye on things, that's why they change themselves to blend into other creatures. That guy has visited my Home many times, with the shabbiest pair of wings I have ever seen."

Jenrya laughed. "Like the first time he visited me. The shabbiest tail I have ever seen. But that's not the point. It was actually he who saw me first, and as the curious creature he is, he got closer to me. I didn't know who he actually was until years later. He's pretty good really, when he is not overdoing things, but he has a great imagination that puts skill on his transformations."

Takuya shook his head. "So, what you mean to say is that he saw you and started to flirt with you using another form then his own. What does a Shapeshifter really look like, does anyone know?"

Jenrya shrugged. "No one really knows, normally Shapeshifters takes a more human form, like Takato does when he doesn't feel like being something else. But the true form, it is hard to say. I wonder if they know themselves what they used to be."

"I clearly doubt it." Kouji said finishing the subject. Takuya's mind wandered back to the early days of their adventure, back when they had seen the Shapeshifter for the first time. Yet the pictures of his mind were dim. So much had happened he started to forget things.

* * *

It was raining when they finally reached the camp the foxes stayed in. Drenched tails and fur could be seen everywhere, a few surviving fires fought to remain burning. It was really a horrid sight. Injured soldiers and women, screaming children and elders. Some lay dead where they had fallen asleep, others fought to survive. Broken swords, splintered bows, broken spears and destroyed armour. A great battle had been fought.

Izumi and Kouichi were the first to hurry over, seeing what had happened with them. The Aquila took out the Beryl she had gotten from Takuya, and did her best to heal the worst wounds. Takuya looked at Kouji, whose eyes seemed to be ablaze. Jenrya was dumbstruck by the scene. Things hadn't been this bad when he had left. Their camp had been attacked, but when?

"Jenrya, you are back!" Ken said hopping over to his cousin, hugging him in relief. After being set free, the kitsune had rejoined with his cousin to fight the evil.

"Ken, what has happened?" Jenrya asked, hugging back relieved to see him alive and standing. Ken had been mildly injured compared to their comrades. A few scars and a stab in the arm was everything. A stab the elves had healed almost straight, so only a thin scar remained. Many elves walked around, helping the injured.

"Five of them, the five came this way and attacked us. They wanted information about the Ones, but we refused to give it too them. The eves helped us to drive them of, but apart from that there isn't much. I think you can guess what really happened. We lost half the clan as far counted, but more dead names appear every second."

"Half the... clan..." Jenrya said in amazement and fright. "But that is... that is... there is no word to describe it, really."

Ken suddenly smiled. "Try to look on the bright side. At least all of your enemy members are gone now, they were the first ones to die. They choose to die rather then to obey your commands."

The young clan-leader shook his head. "Perhaps, but we needed those men. You know, that is exactly what Takato would have said."

The kitsune walked away, dragging his sister with him. Shuiichon waved before hurrying after her brother. "Bye Kouichi!" she said in the normal language surprising everyone except for Kouichi. All the time they had spent together he had tried to teach her some of the normal language.

Two elves walked up to them, one looking very unnatural and the other more organic. Their names were Sora (an High Elf) and Juri (a Wood Elf).

"Greetings!" The High Elf said bowing slightly. My name is Sora, Lady of the Eastern Shimmer. This is my friend Juri, Lady of the Green Ruby. We are the Ladies who protect the wanderers that protect this opening in the woods."

Both elves curtsied graciously. Junpei was drooling slightly.

Takuya looked at Kouji, who seemed to try and make himself invisible from the conversation. Kouichi was the one who greeted them, and introduced them all, for this time, excluding his brother. It seemed that the twins knew each other pretty well.

The elves lead them to a tent placed in the middle of the opening (if you consider trees to be part of an opening). The tent looked as if it had grown out of the ground, placing elves as truly organic creatures. The furniture, the houses... things grew around it not caring that someone lived there and elves shared a special bond with trees.

The elf, Juri, went to get goblets with win or water. Elves loved wine, and they respected water. They all sat down around a table, talking. Even Kouji received a goblet of his own, even though the elves hadn't acknowledged him. It seemed they choose to leave him be until he would feel ready to speak. Vampires didn't feel quite comfortable with elves, out of different reasons and Kouji's reason was that he hated creatures that had the power to read his mind.

"So" Sora said. "We know who you are, and what powers you possess, we know that you are the Warriors seeking your way to ally with the other creatures in the Dragon Valley. We can read your thoughts, and yet we cannot see. You have arrived at our borders with nothing but darkness hunting you. You will infect these lands and may they never heal. What do you ask of the elves, the elves are listening?"

Four stunned faces looked at each other. Only the twins had ever met Elves before, and that had been back during Kouichi's flirting days. Izumi opened and closed her mouth, trying to figure out the right thing to say, yet failed. Junpei scratched the back of his head and Tomoki tumbled with his thumbs. Takuya didn't know what to say, so he did the best thing. Kept quiet.

"We didn't come here in the purpose of wiping out the elves. We came here to help a friend. And as for the darkness, I hope it isn't me you are thinking about. I may be a ghost now since last time I came here, but believe me neither me or my brother wants to do these lands harm."

Inspired of Kouichi's speech Takuya opened his mouth as well. Careful with his words. Elves had another tune around their conversations that sounded more royal then normal speech.

"The evil darkness has indeed been chasing us. I may be a newborn dragon but my heart cries of courage and bravery to use against the evil purposes. We were sent by dragons to find dragons whom we hope to ally ourselves with."

"My Ladies, tell the masters of this glorious forest we only want to pass through. We don't share any grudges against the nature. I am of the Fair Flyers and like I hope people accepts the winds, I believe you hope we accept the forest. Not a flower or root will be disturbed in its cycle." Izumi said.

"You all speak fairly of our land." Juri answered.

"But how do we know you speak the truth." Sora asked.

"A silenced and lying heart is not stupid enough to sit with such pure beings as elves." Kouji added breaking into the conversation. The vampire stared at the two elves, his blue eyes gleaming. "Perhaps I don't trust elves since you of all things can read every thought in my brain, but I do admire your purity."

"What a thoughtful comment coming from a vampire." Juri said giggling.

"He'll eventually learn that life itself can be lighter then he thinks. Vampires..." Sora said rolling her eyes. Takuya saw Kouji's fangs point out as a warning, but the vampire had yet not done something really stupid. The two elves laughed lightly turning to conversation to the forest, and its stories. But if any of those would be mentioned here, then we could sit here all day so better not.

After a long wait, listening to the Elven Stories Takuya was glad to come out from the tent, stretching his wings again. There were no houses and the ground was covered with roots only allowing the nimble creatures to sleep there. Izumi and Kouji decided to sleep upside down, hanging from two branches. Junpei didn't mind the roots and slept on the ground, both Tomoki and Takuya decided to find a comfortable spot in the trees. It became a quiet night for all of them, a night were you even could hear birds singing.

Little did they know that the elves had been right about the darkness, for as the moon looked down at them something entered Nemorisa that had not set its foot there for many ages. And the Earth shook out of disbelief, awakening everyone out of their slumber.

"What in the world was that?" Takuya said as he, like everyone else landed on the ground.

"By my feathery wings, I have no idea." Izumi answered.

The six of them simply shrugged it of, and went back to sleep. Well, as always except for the ghost, who went to haunt some nasty kitsune foxes to make time pass quicker.

* * *

A birth, a terror and the reunion with the world he once had left. Darkness formed around him, fitting into his armour of evil. The four remaining terrors bowed before his greatness.

He didn't look that impressing, no horns and no forked tail. But it wasn't his looks that were frightening. It was what he could do. Looking at a mountain it disintegrated before him, turning into ashes. Pain awaited those who opposed him and death for those who dared to challenge him. He was the ultimate evil, the identification of evil itself.

Now, the legend would unfold. Now, the revenge had started.

And his name, would shine in black ink upon the written scrolls of his legend, for all eternity.

Yet now his main goal would be, to destroy the only ones who could fight him. The six souls that had a change against his awesome powers.

The Six Warriors.

* * *

Screams and terror, that is what they heard as they all sleepily awoke. To their fear and amazement a huge force of darkness had followed them, entering the woods. They saw the elves burn, their immortal souls being swallowed by the Four Terrors of Nemorisa. The Six of the, got ready to fight thinking that with the victory over Mortog, this would be possible. But in vain. The Four remaining Terrors were more then stronger then Mortog. They seemed to be invincible. Mortog was a coward compared to them. Angrily they all had to retreat, watching as soul after soul was wiped out behind them.

Yet the worst of it awaited them around the corner. Kouichi and Kouji sensed it at first, not believing their own senses. It was the presence of a demon, a really strong demon. The one that the ancient legend described. And of them all, three of them could recognise the demon at once... yet only one of them said his name out right.

Takuya felt tears sting in his eyes. He couldn't believe this, he didn't want to believe it.

"_Shinya... why?"_

_TBC_

_

* * *

_

_Yes, this chapter is done... and its... well... over. Next chapter may take a while since I must go back to another story, to update that one. Which really is a bigger project then this... writing a series of five stories in one category. Anyway, see yah all next time and don't forget to review, please? _

_Shitza_


	15. The Demon Lord

_I dn't know exactly what happened, but for a while I couldn't update due to some kind of problem with my account. And it wasn't like I had done something wrong, more like some kind of information that never came, not allowing me to update. I sent after help from some of my readers, I have no idea if you were the ones who helped me get everything back to normal, I am just relieved the the site works again. Another delay came that my Intrenet was shut down this Saturday, and why is another question..._

_So, some could probably guess the answer... (laughs, evil author humour) Yet there were words this came unexpected. Can you guess how hard it was to keep hidden? I wanted to spill it out loads of times, all though that would spoil all the fun. _

_And it seems like the last introduction wasn't that confusing for you... but if someone don't know what the endless amount of creatures that has been told of this story, Hellhounds and such can be found on _http/ sorry for the lack of some Takouji scenes lately. It is just, things are getting really hot around here, the finals are coming and I am so freaked out with ideas I hardly know where to put things. Yes, for once no hard time just writing. 

**Chapter 15**

**The Demon Lord**

_Brothers... Brothers are something special. Two brothers in a family is gold for the family. In many cultures, yet not all, boys are considered better then girls. Likewise boys or males are considered as fortune for the families. Take Dragons for example. Almost only males has received honour in their history... a few selected girls are mentioned, but not often. Mainly boys stands for everything good. _

_In History as well, or more preferably, legend, many tales tell of spectacular events with different brothers journeying together finding treasures never before seen. Boys return with honour beyond honour. _

_A boy also tries to become better then his father, girls don't often need to since girls has a basic thought of looking after the house/cave/mansion etc. and the kids. Some few creatures, for example witches, elves, mermaids, dryads, sirens and Aquilas don't count since they are female dominant. Witches for example prefer to keep their wizards under strict rules, and their kids has a special system they go through, with a lot of apprenticeships. Elves has no strong rules since elves normally consider each other equals. Mermaids are only one kind, there actually doesn't exist mermen even if humans seems to think so. As for Aquilas, you've heard before. _

_Dryads and sirens keep to themselves. Many are yet still not sure what exactly drives them or what their purpose is. _

_Brothers themselves has a special purpose. One son is a bringer of a bright future. Two brothers shares a certain fate. Whatever the fate is, no one will be able to know until the day they die. _

_

* * *

_

Takuya felt tears sting in his eyes. He couldn't believe it, he didn't want to believe it.

"_Shinya... why?"_

* * *

Shinya laughed, an evil cackle came from his mouth. He was dressed in black suit, velvet, and brown boots. A golden belt, gold chain around his neck. He looked much older then he had before, hair spiked, now coloured to red. Nails painted black as well. A symbol was embroided onto the suit, a snake eating on a dragon. 

Around him smaller demons crawled, in the shape of snakes and spiders. The Four remaining terrors assembled around him, bowing. The six Warriors gasped. They couldn't believe their eyes. The demon was human, or as three of them would put it, Takuya's brother.

Now they wondered, how was this possible? How could a human enter this world, born demon or not? Still, Takuya had managed to come here, but so with Kouji and Kouichi's help. But it wasn't the same. And what would happen to Nemorisa if more humans came to this world?

Takuya stared blankly at his brother. He wanted to go over and hear that nothing of this was really sure. Even if Shinya was his brother, an evil brother to add, he still loved him as any brother would love, well a more normal boy. But this was too much for him, the dragon fell to his knees and cried.

Izumi and Kouichi, sensing something was very wrong went over to attack. But they never got anywhere near him. Dark wisps of smoke blew them back. A huge power drained from Shinya's body, not affecting him, but everyone who wasn't of his kind.

Kouji wrapped his arms around Takuya, protecting him. The sword, which Takuya kept with him, started to heat feeling the darkness around. It vibrated violently, wanting to cleanse this rudeness. Takuya knew he couldn't do it. The sword slowly died down, and became cold once more.

The other Terrors came up to them, all hungering after blood and souls. Tomoki flinched seeing Schakal and Kouji growled seeing Umbra as well. Even Kouichi shared some deep hatred with his brother, hating this sight and the brother of darkness longed for revenge. Another sight that greatly made him disgusted was Trix, who truly did insult the darkness. Junpei kept glaring at Bohemus, who had to be five times bigger then him. Izumi tried to do her best holding back Tomoki, who made seconds later made attempts to go strangle that evil ghost. While at it, Schakal put some cruel insults at her, with a classical addition that no one of them would last much longer since they would all die soon. But while the others eyes the Four Terrors, Takuya managed to fight his way through Kouji's arms and run over to his brother. Shinya backed, a black whip appeared from his hand. It slashed the brunette on the shoulders, paralysing him of bewilderment.

The brunette was lost. His mind couldn't absorb the fact that his own brother was the worst terror, the worst mistake in Universe. He was the cause of all the sadness that came across in Nemorisa and upon Earth. The negative forces around him were choking the life out of your body, and his hunger for power could never be filled enough. Takuya could no longer hear his friends calling his name. He could only hear the harsh wind and the memory of lightning.

Back in time, back in another world. Back, in a memory of a brother one day during a storm. When their parents had been gone.

**Memory**

The thunder kept tearing the trees apart. Somewhere the forest had started to burn, but Takuya wasn't affected by that. A much younger version of Takuya Kanbara sat on his bed, thinking about life. He was around eight, and so far his life was pretty horrible, and yet he could cope with it.

His parents were out, and he had been strictly told to watch his brother. At the moment Shinya was downstairs watching TV, his favourite programs. When this ended the calmness ended.

Suddenly the lights went out, everything became dark. Takuya fished under his pillow for a torchlight he his there in emergencies. The lightning flashed outside, and while he kept listening he could swear he heard someone crying. He walked out from his room, lighting the way. Walking towards the stairs, walking down the staircase to the couch. The crying got louder and he ran over to the sofa, where the young Shinya sat crying.

"B-brother, I'm scared!" Shinya said trembling. Takuya, feeling slightly unsure of what to do did the only thing he could think of. He sat down beside his brother, holding him close letting him cry to sleep. Shinya wrapped his arms around his brother, his tears soon disappearing and they were replaced by a soft breathing. Takuya couldn't help it, but he felt drowsy. He closed his eyes and fell asleep as well.

He woke up hours later with a blanket put over him. Shinya was gone, but dinner was placed before him. A tray with sandwiches and some juice. It was one of the few times his brother did anything nice for him. For as he sat up straight he could see his brother smiling, winking at him before walking up the stairs to his room.

**End memory**

**New Memory**

His next memory appeared a few years later. Like always when his mother yelled at him and the door was unlocked he had escaped from the house. He was eleven, and Kouichi had agreed following him to the park. The ghost floated before him, only showing himself to him and no one else. The ghost did weird faces and scared the hell out of people by making picnic baskets fly stealing the blankets with all the food. It was his way of receiving the meal and Takuya did not stop him. How else would he survive, even though he felt kind of sorry for everyone involved. But the food itself was delicious.

How could he complain?

Takuya and Kouichi sat down at a hill by some trees, happily munching on their well deserved earns. Takuya was right about to munch into a red apple when he saw none other then his brother walk up to him. Shinya stopped suddenly and Takuya was sure he was dead.

"Who's your friend?" his brother asked.

Takuya saw Kouichi stumble before quickly ceased to exist, even from Takuya's vision. His brother walked away, shaking his head at his weird brother.

Perhaps Shinya had been able to see Kouichi, because he too like Takuya didn't come from a normal world?

Who knew?

**End Memory**

**Memory**

Takuya could remember something else. It all began after Shinya's birth, or really after the news about his mother going to have another child. Perhaps the darkness around his brother truly was strong or perhaps it was a dark fate. It was a vision from the future, a vision that that he only now could understand. Back then he did not believe in that ghosts and such existed, back then he didn't know about Nemorisa. He didn't know about himself. In that vision, he had seen fire, and darkness in a death on death battle. But the details remained weak, and all he could remember seeing, as this image flickered the more the years went pass, darkness and fire being equal in strength. The something happening to the darkness, as it grew stronger surrounding the fire.

Then it all went black...

**End Memory**

* * *

It was dawn, the storm had continued to another place. But with the morning sun reality hit them like a bomb. The trees around them still smoked, dead foxes lay in heaps, many of them had returned to a beast like form, like the one they were born in. The surviving foxes buried their friends in the forest, a memorial place to become. Many would give their lives, for the things that would soon happen. 

The six warriors had retreated to their own corner, licking their wounds. Izumi's elfstone was a good help, but still not enough to heal their broken pride. Kouichi was unusually silent and very grey. Izumi had folded her wings around her, shielding herself from their eyes. She felt so hopeless. Tomoki lay on the burned grass, looking at what remained of a huge tree. Kouji was feeding himself on birds and squirrels, not caring what the others thought about. But really, his insides were burning out of rage.

But the person who suffered the most was of course, Takuya, who still couldn't understand what had happened. But the longer time went past, the more the puzzle started to be solved and tears trickled down his saddened face. Junpei was the only one who didn't feel completely saddened. Indeed he was the only one who didn't blame himself for what had happened.

So, now you all wonder what truly did happen. We said everything went black, and yes it did. A black cloud came sweeping the Evils with it. A dark mind, a Shadowed prophecy came whispering declaring the demon as its tool. Dark thunder hit the ground, eroding the earth and cracking the lands. Dark souls came to quench the living, and the trees died before their very eyes. Corpses were piled over each other, both elves and foxes. History and legend would describe this day as, the day without hope.

Four of the warriors sighed at the same time. Junpei sat by a pile of sand, drawing something. It looked very much like a drawing of mountains, for his mind was lost to his homeland, or home-mountain. The Raiki Mountains in the South, the cave he lived in and all his friends. It wasn't really a coincident for him that he had bumped into these guys, since after all... he was on a mission for the Chief of his tribe. Like many of the others, he had known about his ancient powers, yet unlike them not used it. He was happy just to be himself and at first he didn't want anything to do with it. Until that day a messenger came to the Mountain, clad in a pitch black cloak.

"My Master bids thee about help to defeat though Warriors in a upcoming war." he said formally. Junpei heard exactly what was spoken. He was a close friend to the young Chief and had come for a visit, all though not expecting this.

"And what does your Master want from us?" The Chief asked.

"That thou help my Master kill the six Warriors and bring their power to Him."

"And how do we find these Warriors?" the Chief asked, starting to get pretty interested in the conversation. The Messenger had brought a lot of gold with him, which sickened Junpei at the mere sight of it. And he was afraid as well, as he knew that he was one of the warriors and even though his comrades didn't know about it, yet, he knew he couldn't stay for long. Unless he could get his friend to change his mind.

"What do you think, Junpei?" the Chief asked.

Junpei took a deep breath. "I think we shouldn't trust him. He is from the darkness, and the only darkness we can trust are ghosts and ghouls. There is something fishy about it, and I don't mean a plain fish. More like a shark before he attacks, circling his prey."

The Chief simply shrugged. "Whatever you say my friend. We will talk about this later." he told the Messenger.

"As you wish." the Messenger said and left. Yet, as he passed Junpei something happened. His powers suddenly emerged, going after the messenger grilling him. The Messenger screamed in pain as he died and Junpei. He was in pure shock. Everyone was quiet.

It ended with him leaving. He could not risk it happening again. As that thing had passed him, anger flared so deeply it emerged in the shape of full power. Even though his friends wanted him to stay, he had to leave. He went to the witches, whom he knew, knew more about magic. And after this, you know the rest.

* * *

Five of them would not remember much of the events happening during the following days, and if they had, they would have been really surprised. As they all soon felt better, many thanks to the elves Juri who kept them under her safe magic, many wounds healed. Within a few days they all started to use their heads again instead of blaming their problems on other things. The only one who still couldn't solve his problems was Takuya, but who would after such an event? 

Yet time heals the wounds and you figure out sometimes time has to pass on and even though the past is not forgotten, you start living with it. Laughter came back to them, joy as well. They were getting close to their goal. Behind the mountains at the end of the Elven Woods lay the Dragon Valley they had so long searched for. It had taken a long time to get there, and as they did their best to cross the mountains, Harana passed into Livia and around them water sprang to life. Their roads also got more crowded as it seemed more kinds of creatures had travelled from all around Nemorisa to get to the Dragon's Homeland. Werewolves travelled in groups, growling at them passing by. They saw wizards soar by and it is not a myth that witches use brooms. However it is mainly witches who masters the art. So the wizards just have to hang on and pray for his life.

Many old faces swooped by, all keeping an eye for them. They saw Ruki and Ryo passing, poor Ryo looking quite pale over Ruki's mad flying techniques. Miyako stopped to say hello, flying together with a few other fellow Aquilas and Izumi of course was overwhelmed to see her. Takato passed looking for Jenrya, and seemed to be a bit lost. The Shapeshifter travelled through rivers and often got lost. Other familiar faces Mimi, dragging a furious Iori with her. (It looked as if the wizards had decided to leave their apprentice home this time, something he refused.) Hirokazu, who frightened the hell out of Kouichi once he stopped by. And some very old faces, Ai and Mako who came to report that Kouji and Kouichi's castle had almost been crushed into ruins because of the search.

Yet none of their friends stayed too long. Everyone was in a hurry, hoping to get away before the new storm. Reports came that another Terror was on its way and all sane creatures scattered before that happened. The Warriors however decided to stay behind. A sudden rage kept building up in their chests because of these things, something they could no longer control. Like an animal instinct over a prey. So far the rumours described this as moving rock of destruction.

An agreement had erupted between them. Even though they lost one battle, they would try their best on the next. What was the point of continuing if you knew you couldn't survive such a thing? They were said they had legendary powers and they all wanted to believe that. It was outside the borders to the dragon territory that the rumour caught up with them and what they could see, running after them was what looked at first like a rock boulder. But at a closer look it was not.

Fire and Light... Ice and Wind... Darkness and Thunder... in a sudden rush all the elements awoke.

And do you know who will be round 2 for them to face? Oh no, can't be, can it? Bohemus, the demonic rock, a Moving Mountain...

_TBC_

_Thanks to everyone for support!_


	16. Forever and Never

_I AM ALIVE! And this fic is updated here, thanks to that is working for me again. It seems people has abandoned it... (cries). Gomen ne, I haven't written for ages. School keeps me so busy I hardly know my name anymore, and that stinks. Really, Second year at Secondary High... I do never want to go through this again. YUCK!_

_Anyway..._

_I thought it is time to pull in some more Takouji, it's been a while, hasn't it? And of course, having the Warriors to fight... Bohemus the demon rock. Now, now... because my teachers are evil enough to load me (and my classmates) with tons of work (from homework and essays to BIG exams), I am not going to be nice to them._

_Only joking, you guys would probably skin me alive if I tried something like that. _

_Once more, very much blood in this chapter. Well, not anything I don't think most people can take, but if you can't read about blood (in different ways) then you should follow my advice, and find a little more suited story. Things will get really rough as it seems, and sometimes I do reconsider to make this an M-fic... but that would be quite evil to do... wouldn't it._

_Ps: I should have mentioned this long ago. Digimon is returning... Digimon Savers will be released in Japan April 2nd. Too bad you're not there when it happens, lucky ones! For more news, and more rumours... check out the link to my "homepage" and read for yourself. _

**Chapter 16**

**Forever and Never**

_Bohemus... _

_Bohemus..._

_Bohemus..._

_Even if it was quite a while this Terror created history around him, few will be able to forget what he did. Elder creatures from Nemorisa have listened to this story for ages, younger creatures shiver at the mere mentioning of a corrupted rock. _

_It's an ancient story, and of all the Terrors he is the oldest of the Terrors, born back at the Great War between good and evil. Fought together with the original demons, yet on Jija, when the Light finally won over Darkness, he fled. Back then, who can remember what he did, really? No one does... like many other demons, he was sealed away under the earth of Nemorisa._

_Yet his return is the main part of his frightening life. It all began with a volcano erupting and many demons escaped. This wasn't unexpected, witches had forewarned the strongest creatures about this and together many demons were vanquished before they could find a physical form. Yet, on the verge of being destroyed, he fled into one of the hot volcanic rocks. From that he created a for of his own, and overpowered the creatures that came to destroy him. By doing that the demons were able to enter Nemorisa, and cause chaos. _

_Of course this did not last forever. Bohemus is really a demon who prefers to stay behind and only attacks when all odds are for his sake. The demons who managed to appear were by the years destroyed as well, leaving imprint here and there. Magical objects with terrifying powers. As for Bohemus, his powers are now unstoppable. There is only one single weakness he has... a crack in his body. But no matter what, he makes sure no one, yes, no one will ever touch it. _

_

* * *

_

Junpei blinked... blood pounded within his veins. Everything around him had turned into disaster. Izumi had been hit on her back, sent away flying into the mountain wall. He could see her blood now painting it. Her left wing seemed to be broken, thanks to that hit. As well had Tomoki fallen, now lying close to the very battle. His cry had been a shrill to the bone and yet he fought bravely for his young age.

Kouichi still stood, he had been able to avoid being hit so far, but he knew he wasn't to much use. His attacks simply did not bite on this creature, who fed on darkness. He sent attacks after attacks, draining himself out of all energy and now, almost invisible thanks to this battle, he floated beside his brother.

Kouji was yet standing, and blood coloured his hands. But it wasn't Bohemus blood, it was his own. In one of his hands he held a sword, summoned by magic. His wings flapped tiredly, he as well was tired.

Takuya was also alive, and angrier then ever. The more he fought the hotter things got around them. Kouji wasn't near his boyfriend at the moment, as Takuya was burning, literally burning and sent all his flames to kill this beast. With vain... a monster like Bohemus didn't feel heat or cold. It was really useless. Fire, ice or darkness had no powers to defeat such a vile thing. Kouji's sword did some damage, but for being an overgrown rock, Bohemus could move really fast and they couldn't find any weaknesses.

Takuya drew the sword he carried as well, hoping it would cause some more damage then his powers. But it was too late... a shock went rigidly though him and Kouji, finally defeating them.

Junpei gasped seeing his friends fall. He could not believe it. He prayed that they would be alive, but still... after all this...

Takuya made a weak attempt to hold on to Kouji, but in vain. He was too weak for himself to move any more and from that, he fell into darkness.

Bohemus started to laugh, evilly. He had won... he had beaten the six warriors without much efforts.

Above the clouds darkened quickly, and rain started to fall. Thunder erupted and flashes of light visualized this battle in a sad and tragic way. Bohemus, feeling hungry, neared the warriors to eat their bodies and to drink their blood. Junpei could hear Kouichi's screams as he did his best to defend his friends, being last to stand. But he could only witness everything. Bohemus first bite would be Izumi...

Something within Junpei woke up, feeling ready to kill... Like the once mythical thunder the Ancient Blitz wielded, a storm woke up deep within his heart. Roaring he stood up, and dashed at Bohemus, surprising the Terror greatly. Junpei had to be, five times smaller then Bohemus, yet with the power of his rage he managed to bring Bohemus to his knees. The demon was greatly surprised that someone of the Warriors could so much as move him an inch, but Junpei didn't just do that. He fell him...

Bohemus roared and tried to punch Junpei, but missed as the Warriors slowly ducked. It was also there he noticed the crack in his boulder-like body. The only weakness Bohemus had.

Bohemus punched again, and this time he hit. The punch went into Junpei's right arm, cracking it making blood drop to the ground. Junpei had never, in his life, experienced such a physical pain. Never before had the skin on his body cracked to any force and he gasped half blinded in pain. Bohemus cracked a smile, thinking nothing could stop him and that the blow he just had taken was mere a lucky shot.

But if so, then Junpei had to be the luckiest guy in all Worlds...

He wasn't finished yet. One eye opened, sparkling of electricity. The thunder above them roared and hit the ground several times. Bohemus cried, because he felt something wasn't right.

Junpei held out his undamaged hand, electricity forming into a ball in his palm. It was brightening and blinding as it flew from his hand towards the one point he knew he could defeat his enemy at.

"Blitz, help me!" he prayed... "Ultimate Thunder!" (A/N: I haven't been able to locate the English attack yet. Hope you all can live with it.)

It hit, and Bohemus roared in pain as his century-years old body cracked. Bright light emitted from the cracks, as the last of the demons from old time finally had to give up for justice. The lights grew blinding, and Junpei landed on the ground, exhausted and out. Even if Junpei would never witness the death of his enemy, Kouichi did and he was amazed. He was amazed as the demon soul in Bohemus was freed. With the soul being free Kouichi aimed at it with his own attacks, destroying it for good. Like it would really have mattered, as the soul would have withered away in the clear air.

"You did it... Thank you, Junpei!"

* * *

Bright lights... Junpei blinked several times as he finally opened his eyes, only to find that he was no longer by the mountains. He lay on a bed, on white soft cotton... someone had mended the skin on his arm, it was healed and he wasn't in pain any more. Really, he felt so much better. Perhaps he was dead, and had passed to Heaven...

"You're awake!" a familiar voice spoke. A familiar almost transparent face looked down at him, smiling. It was Kouichi...

"Kouichi... where am I? Are the others alright, what happened?" His voice rose several octaves as he spoke.

The ghost above blinked. "Take it easy, I am a ghost not a reporter. Very well... to summon things up, the others are fine. Izumi's wing is completely healed and the others have revived from the incident. We were more concerned about you, the Healers said that you were near death and if they hadn't brought us here you would slowly have died. There was some kind of poison in your wound which would have killed you, but they dispatched of it. Bohemus is dead, you completely destroyed him, cracked him, did the impossible. As for where we are... When you guys fell the Dragons came, and they helped you. The Dragon in charge of this healing centre Hikari, took care of you all personally."

"Hikari, it sounds familiar..."

"Probably... she's called the Light of all dragons. She's the little sister to Taichi, the leader of the dragon clans."

Junpei smiled. "That's good." he said before his energy drained again, and he fell asleep.

* * *

The winds came warm from south, through the Mermaid's Bay south of Dragon Valley. The Warrior's, now already legendary for their courage, had split into different directions. Takuya had joined Taichi to plan further moves now that Darkness would soon try to attack the Valley. Tomoki was teaching some dragon children how to ski, using his snow powers to create a mountain of snow. Izumi was talking with a group of mermaids, who seemed pretty questioning about her life in the sky, while she wondered how it was to swim in the deep. They did not admit it, but each of them were jealous of the other's beauty.

Kouichi floated outside where his brother stood waiting. Kouji nodded as the two of them walked (and floated) away to talk.

"How is he?" Kouji asked as they were away from sneaky ears.

"Hikari said he will be fine. The poison **HE** put in him is all gone. She also told about some kind of mysterious force being around him, it disappeared this morning. But it was definitely something that helped him to defeat **HIM**, because even if Junpei is strong, he isn't that strong that he can take on a terror like that on his own."

"I thought it could be the cause. I wonder if something like that could have been the reason that Takuya could defeat Mortog..."

"Wasn't it the sword who helped him?" Kouichi asked.

"Perhaps, but then why did the sword show up at that exact time?"

"Maybe Takuya has hidden powers we don't know of. I mean, even after all this time they all wonder how Aguni was able to hide his demonic child for so long, and then take it to another world."

Kouji smiled. "You might be right. After all, Takuya is still a mystery for everyone."

Kouichi chuckled. "I thought you had it easy to discover those things, you sleep with him, remember?"

"Kouichi!" Kouji protested sending his brother a glare.

"Well, it's true, isn't it? You know what. Feels good to finally have reached this place. I just hope we can stay safe here for a while."

"Me too Kouichi, me too!"

* * *

Takuya smiled as he rose from the comfortable chair he sat in. It was even designed to let his wings rest. Taichi was some years older then him, and not too different. In a corner sat Yamato, introduced as the scabby wolf. It had not gone any further then that, because Yamato had attacked the dragon's (Taichi's) lips before he managed to make it further. This made Takuya see some similarities around, and it made him laugh as he now knew about 4 gay pairs. He and Kouji, Daisuke and Ken, Takato and Jenrya (even though he had not seen them together, only heard what others said) and now Taichi and Yamato.

The three of them sat together, mostly talking about their journey and the news about the Demon, aka Shinya. Even if Takuya still hadn't fully recovered from it, his heart still refused to believe that Shinya was evil, and that would never change.

Taichi seemed pretty interested in the news, as well to hear that they had beaten Mortog, a spider no one thought was possible to defeat. When Kouichi had managed to find his soldiers they had been shocked to discover that Bohemus had been destroyed. Crazy as the Valley had gone creatures were getting a bit naïve thinking they could beat all of them. Taichi still didn't want to think that, in case anything happened. They still had a very long way before they would be even close to relax again.

What would happen if they were all proved wrong?

What would happen with his people, if the Terrors attacked and the Warriors would fall?

These kind of thoughts haunted him all the time.

Yamato sensing his boyfriend tensing sat down on the bed, his tail waggered back and forth as a dog waiting for his Master to feed him. Takuya could also sense the change, but couldn't understand it.

Taichi stood up. The two others followed him with their eyes. The majestic orange wings on Taichi's back flapped dusting up papers that had been neatly stacked. He walked over to his minimodel of Nemorisa. Almost all of the figures had been placed in the Valley, a few were yet on their way. Takuya could see Takeru being one of them, which would mean that Yamato was probably worried about his brother. Takuya didn't know why he should. That wolf had almost killed him once.

"We don't have much time." he said gazing down at the figures that resembled the remaining terrors. "They will probably come and attack us as soon as they can. I'm not sure we can hold their attacks."

Yamato looked down at his hands, shaking slightly. "Takeru." he said.

Takuya knew his presence had been completely forgotten by their grief. Luckily for him, someone came knocking on the door. It was Daisuke, dragging Ken after him. He seemed to have new reports which meant that Takuya would have to leave. The young dragon was more then happy to do so. He followed Ken outside and then hurried to find some more, happy faces.

Not all had been lost. Perhaps they were at War, but the victory wasn't claimed yet.

* * *

The sunny Spring grew warmer, and even at days like these you couldn't see the signs that the Dragons were preparing for War. New cottages were built for other creatures to stay at. Camps spread all around the Valley. Livia ended with the White Tears blooming, a common flower around these borders that had petals of luminous white and heart-shaped leaves. It looked related to the little White Anemone, but it can only be described as prettier.

Ichigora, the month of Thunder and Lightning proceeded. But like thunder changes the mood, the temperature, the situations... things changed for the Warriors as well.

They were not together all the time any more. With all the creatures assembled they had to return to what they were really. Izumi went back to the Aquilas, and her mother. (Her father had died that winter, killed by one of the Dark Scouts). Tomoki went back to Jyou's care, yet he often went to pay visits to any of the others. Junpei went to meet his clan at the mountains, and stayed with them. Takuya only saw him as they all went to celebrate his birthday, 6th of Ichigora.

Even Kouichi left, but he often went back to both him and Takuya, who stayed with the Dragons. Kouichi had his reasons however, to retrieve his good name as well as instruct his fellow ghosts, ghouls and poltergeists upon what they were facing. (Most of the spiritual creatures only came after hearing Hirokazu's orders.)

This meant that Kouji and Takuya were free to to spend their time together, without the others' poking eyes. In all of this, new habits developed. Even though they sometimes missed having their friends around, it was yet a relief to be alone and grow even closer together. Right now, they sat outside the "small" house Taichi had given to them. Only, the Dragon's vision of small had to be something Takuya would never learn. Perhaps it wasn't the Castle, but it was Huge!

The sun set, after yet another day... another day of waiting. Kouji looked up at the now starry sky, sighing. Takuya had fallen asleep, his head resting on Kouji's shoulder. Kouji smiled seeing his Dragon snoozing so close to him. Only a few seconds ago, they had been even closer until Takuya protested saying he was tired. Well, he wasn't lying. Being a Dragon had given him more responsibilities, some not that fun but still. He normally didn't protest, but today had been more then exhausting. Kouji had met him on his way back, looking close to the walking dead. It wasn't an expression he often used, except of Kouichi then.

The sun disappeared, with a small line of light. Now the vampires woke up and started moving again. Weaker werewolves who yet had to master light got ready to move on. But apart from that everything was quiet. Peacefully quiet. He wished it could stay like this.

He too closed his eyes, drifting out to sleep. He couldn't help it, he felt so peaceful, so safe. Such strange feelings he thought he had forgotten ever since is parents died. Mutual feelings that had hidden since his brother died. It all returned within a few days.

Slowly he passed on to dreamland. He saw his parents again, like he remembered them from being young. His mother, sitting on the long couch drinking her daily cup of blood-tea while he and his brother played tag with the ghosts. His father coming home after a rouge meeting with the Leaders of the City, just to be warmly welcomed by those he loved.

His dream changed, and he stood on a hill, gazing down at a small town. In it cars roared and people shouted from the streets at each other. Children played in a park, happily. It was a glorious summer day, and people enjoyed their day outside, some dressed normally and some dressed formally in colourful Yukatas. Yet all he had in sight was a small boy walking down the stree, his lips moving as he was talking but you couldn't see who he was talking too.

It was the memory of his arrival at Tokyo, and his memories of his search of his brother.

A third time the dream changed. This time it came from a near future. First there was darkness, then light. He saw a child, with untangle dark hair, sky blue eyes and dragon wings. He was dressed in a black robe, like he could remember having worn himself.

"Father!" it said. "Father, I'll be waiting for you!"

And then, he woke up.

* * *

Izumi was in a good mood when she walked down to the Valley, from having once more slept close to the sky (at a temporary camp set on one of the mountains.) Once more she truly looked like a princess clad in light blue, with gold embroideries. And she was in a very happy mood, since her mother had decided that she could wait for marriage, until she felt ready for it, which she clearly did not in another hundred years.

Half way she passed Junpei, who with some companions were burying another one in a mud bath. Junpei winked back as the blond Aquila laughed at their games.

Not too far away Tomoki was target practising on the trees. The little MistHimi would try to make sure that his parents were revenged and he wanted to be ready to face the dangers ahead.

But her main interests were not her mates this time. No, she was heading down to make herself useful for her people and trade some pearls from the mermaids. But to her surprise, as she came down to the bay, there were no mermaids waiting for her. Shocked she looked down at the water and saw it being coloured red.

She wasn't the only one who noticed. Ruki dropped her wand in the cauldron, eyes widening.

Kouichi flipped backwards as the wind increased threatening to blow him away. Only magical winds had that ability. Dark magical winds.

Yamato woke up, his pupils shrinking to the minimal size.

Hikari hurried to find shelter, sensing that her powers would probably be destroyed if she stayed any longer.

Darkness was now completely surrounding them.

The time of living would now meet its fate.

_000_

_Once more, sorry for the delay. I am hoping to finish a new chapter sooner then this, but right now... one day exam, other day another exam, next day a new exam. So little time, somuch I want to do. _

_Shitza_


	17. The War Begins

_Hmm... seems things are finally heating up. I know some of you have truly missed the Takouji parts, which plays a truly big part in this story even if I am a lousy author describing them. Poor guys, heh? I am not giving them any time to catch their breaths. It's action upon action. _

_And if anyone has heard about the Digimon Savers really airing in Japan right now, lucky guys, then no, none of the Savers characters will appear in this. Too early yet for any appearance. Even though I have found a Digimon from Savers I truly adored, yet i don't know it's name yet. _

_Hopefully the updates don't seem too slow. It's just lately i suddenly got stuck on Naruto, and even though if there will ever be something written in that category, they will be way shorter then this! I've been doing too many long stories lately!_

_Oh, and something i found out the other day. Browsing through Internet and such, Aquila means eagle in Latin. It freaked me out, but sounds reasonable thinking me out. And I've been using it for ages. Oh well, didn't think about eagles when i started writing about em. _

_The intro of this chapter is taken 200 years back in time, at one of many councils with the Royal Knights. That's why there are really so many dialogues this time, since Aquilas, who wrote this down, are pretty good at documenting down everything that is said. _

_Oh, and the first uhm, Digimon partner name will enter. I have finally found, apart from the Royal Knights, a place to put a name. Only, well... you'll see... _

_Just don't hate me. _

_Shitza_

_PS: Since there is a lot of facts, that are essential to this story, they are labelled IN... You will find these in some places, take them as short facts to make you understand stuff. _

_PPS: Don't flame me for making short and quick scenes. I am trying to turn up the temperature here. Things will get pretty much dangerous and many will get hurt. (ducks rotten eggs and tomatoes). Hey, it's just a story, right?I mean, i don't own Digimon and thank God for that. _

_I know it will be hard though to know what is going on. _

**Chapter 17**

**The War Begins**

_Livia 4th. _

_I am witnessing a lively conversation between the thirteen knights. Darkness must really be dark to make such glorious creature have discussions that echo around the clouds. Truly, with their armour and weapons, our Thirteen Royal Knights are honourable. _

_Something has occurred to the Magical World we live in, Nemorisa. Something that has made the Knights sweat blood. The floor is covered in red sweat, making this look like a War-scene instead of a council. They must be hasty, or this world we all love, will fall. _

"_Time is against us!" Alpha, the strongest and most heroic of them said. Not before long, the darkness will once more be upon us."_

"_And we cannot do anything to stop it." Omega said. The Light brother of Alpha. In a few weeks Nemorisa will be gone, and here we are trapped to guard an even fouler evil."_

"_What do you suggest we do?" Lord Knight, asked. A flower held in his hand. "I am actually quite relieved that we cannot do anything, or my armour would get dirty."_

"_My Dear Lord Knight, if everyone is Nemorisa would think like you then this world would probably not even face danger any more, because we would most likely have been destroyed since long! We have to fight, somehow!" Magna said, growling. _

"_Calm down, there is truly no reason to fight between each other." Duke said._

_The eleven other knights nodded, even though Lord Knight (no one knew his real name) looked quite upset still about the others behaviour towards him. Yet, he knew as well something had to be done, and the Knights knew that all his comments were what remained of his old nature. _

"_So, any ideas at all?" asked Craniu. Ultforce Veedra simply sighed. _

"_Well... we could... I don't know... wait a minute..." Sleip began. "Someone's missing. Where's Crusader?" _

"_Hasn't anyone seen him?" The twelfth knight asked. _

_Tension builds between the Knights, so beautifully. Crusader is missing and they go searching for him. But like the old saying (IN: An Nemorisian proverb) Never be the mouse near the cat, if you don't want to be scratched... Literally meaning don't go looking for the obvious, and a Knight was always obvious. _

_Crusader turned up before they had time to blink, with him a blind hag as you should call it. But really she was a banshee, close to her death. Now, you probably don't think banshees can be killed, which is true. But they can be exterminated to another world. But before she would be forced to leave, she had something she wanted to tell the knights. About two twins, one dark and one light. Two twins, identical at the first sight. One twin, killed the other half alive. One twin Yin, the other Yang. _

_About the Warriors that would come, to save them. About the warriors now all living in the worlds. _

_And about terror that had started to rise, about darkness that grew. About deaths that came like storms. _

"_So, it is beginning!" Alpha said, looking down. _

"_Then this must be a sign we are looking for, a solution." Omega agreed. _

"_Royal Knights, we sure have a lot to prepare."_

"_All our hopes lies upon the six elements of darkness, fire, wind, thunder, ice and light." _

_

* * *

_

Ken could truly feel the presence of darkness, he remembered back when this kind of darkness had dominated his thoughts. The young kitsune growled, staying close to his Dragon. Daisuke looked quite puzzled at first, until he too could sense it. The sea swayed below them.

* * *

Kouji stood on a rock, gazing over the red sea. The mermaids that had survived had fled to the rivers towards the Shapeshifters' land. He knew things were getting far more the serious. Chaotic...

* * *

During the time he had been gone, and the time they had been travelling, the dark forces had raised their armies in caves close to the prison the Demons stayed within... and it had been a surprise for them all to have the first attack at sea. Right now they borrowed the ships the Shapeshifters used to battle, captained by none other then Takato and Jenrya who had led his clan to fight, accompanied by some of the Dragons Daisuke commanded over. The dragon lead his warriors to a fight he hoped could have been prevented. Normally he would not say no to a fight, but he didn't like slaughtering like this. Mermaid's and Dragons were partly good friends, at least friends enough not to fight. Instead Mermaids tended to lure you down to the sea, but even though they did that to almost all kinds of creatures.

The wind came as a soft breeze, it hardly gave you any clues of that only hours ago hundreds of creatures had been killed, below their feet. Daisuke sighed, feeling unusually alone not to have Ken by his side. He looked back towards the shore, where he knew someone waited for him and sighed once more.

The ships continued sailing, not encountering any enemies for long. Feeling uneasy, Jenrya wrapped his arms around Takato. It had been long since the two of them had been together, last time they really had some time together, when was that? Neither Shapeshifters or kitsunes were fabulous creatures or popular in this strange world, and it had set its mark. And resulted in weird ways.

Takato leaned at his boyfriend's shoulder. Life seemed cruel to everyone who had found someone. He had known people, who had lost their lives in various ways because of love. Sometimes he wondered what would happen to him and Jen. He could remember only a few years back, he had a partner in crime, Guil as he was called (IN:no one knew his real name). The two of them had been the best of friends, and best of thieves stealing bread and cakes from the Royal Kitchen. It had been happy days, until... well...

Takato could never forgive them. Guil had been a good boy, his yellow lizard like eyes and flaming red eyes gave him an appearance of being something truly unique. But even though they all knew that this world was dangerous, even danger had to have a limit. Unfortunately Guil was caught at it in full power.

Takato hadn't been there to witness, only heard the news from the team Guil was set to lead. Their leader had been like many other unlucky killed by Schakal, who had eaten his soul.

He knew he wasn't alone having close ones killed by this THING.

**Flashback**

_Takato sat b the water, looking sadly down at the murky water. This was the day, the day he stayed alone to honour a great soul. A soul that probably had never reached either heaven or hell. In his hand lay an piece of dirty cloth, ripped from a shirt. On his lap lay a shirt, dirty of sand and dust, it too had a piece of cloth ripped from it, yet not the same piece. _

_Once in his life, he and Guil had promised to be brothers, and had given the other one a piece of cloth, ripped from their shirts. As an oath to always stay by the others side. But when Guil had been killed, this was broken so fiercely. Such a close friendship, ripped in two. _

_Suddenly he heard footsteps, in his stupid mind he could simply imagine Guil walking up to him, saying: "I'm hungry. Let's go down to the kitchen for some food!"_

_Takato, what are you doing here?" Izumi of the Wind asked (IN: a Title that had appeared due to their most featured powers, well obvious, isn't it?)_

_Takato sulked, his heart still hoped that Guil would appear again. _

"_Nothing" he said sadly. _

_The Aquila sat down beside him, her wings had only a few minutes ago been waxed and treated. Her hair was braided and she wore a white dress, that reached to her ankles. If Takato hadn't been in love with Jenrya had sworn his heart to him (IN: Kitsunes have a different way of mating then vampires. They share hearts, normally set during full moon where the moon can mark their oaths. The moon inflicts a lot around the kitsune, as well as for werewolves.)_

_Though, he could add she didn't look like any royal princess anymore, and he wouldn't say no to have a queen like her. _

_That day he found out a lot about the Warriors. Izumi was nice and could dry his tears, and some of his sorrow. She managed to cheer him up. It seemed that she had lost someone precious as well. It seemed as if everyone of the Warriors had lost someone precious to them. He was amazed by that Schakal had killed both hers and Tomoki's family members, the Umbra had been the one responsible for turning Kouichi to a ghost, and that Takuya would have to fight his own brother, if he wanted to save this world. _

_It seemed as if even the heroes had problems, and that wasn't what he had believed in. Yet, it didn't seem as if they wept themselves every years because of that. Maybe the difference of being a true Warrior and a coward was hope..._

_It had been a useful lesson for him, and he promised himself not to cry. Guil would not want him to cry, and so he wouldn't. Not until they met again..._

**End Flashback**

Yes, he wanted to be strong. He couldn't think about loosing Jenrya, not after having lost Guil he didn't want to loose any more.

He smiled, believing in a future. A future that once had seemed so distant to him.

* * *

It was all quiet. People all around her kept quiet. It was too quiet, she felt so uneasy. And worst of all.

**Flashback**

Her mother sat at the end of the table, silently watching her. She felt so uneasy thinking about the War.

"Izumi!" she said, staring at her in her eyes.

"Yes mother!" she answered.

"I don't want you to participate in this War. You are my only child, I am worried that anything will happen to you."

She dropped the glass of wine she was holding. "What? But why?"

"You are the future Queen, and if you die so does the whole Mountain with you. They will need you."

"But..."

Yet it was the end of discussion. Her mother left her and she was alone.

**End Flashback**

What should she do? She didn't want to betray her friends, and yet her mother was right. She knew, out of history that once when the Royal Family had been killed, the mountain almost destroyed itself. When her family was put on the leading role it stopped, but if she died. Who knew what would happen.

What would the others say? Takuya, the overconfident dragon would probably think it wasn't a possibility for any of them to die. Yet, he hadn't been able to predict that his own brother sought after his death. Kouji, perhaps would think along the same thoughts, yet Kouji was a mystery for her. Kouichi, he probably would believe she could become a ghost like him. But if she would be a ghost the results would be the same. Junpei, Junpei who almost died trying to save them.

Yet Tomoki's voice reached her thoughts. He thought it was his responsibility to live for the ones he cared about, and that was exactly what she would do. She would fight, and she would live for her people.

Hurrying she went to take off the stupid satin blue dress she wore, and sneaked to find a suitable armour for herself. Her mother had taken a late nap, and she would leave a note telling her about what she would do. Her mother might curse her but she knew, she had to live on for everyone that depended on her.

Outside the sky was coloured red of fire. Screams could be heard from all kinds of creatures who died.

Yep, it was now or never. It was now or never for the wind to rise.

* * *

Hikari was in shock. Never before had the Healing house been this full, and now only the ones who had a chance of survival was brought in. The most hurt had to die. It was a difficult task for her, with such a kind hear, yet there was nothing in her power that she could do.

Many friends had been severely hurt. Mimi lay in a small garden being constantly fed nutrition for plants. Iori had been put into the Magical Ward where two witches sat healing him with magical strings. The elf Juri had been hit by a rock and was now resting from the impact, she was lucky to have a system in her body that by itself could heal these wounds. Even Yamato was here, who sat supporting his brother as Takeru was going through an rough operation as his tail had been cursed, severely cursed, by none other the Schakal.

Tears flowed down. She was working in a mass of screams and yelps. People died in her arms.

"Hikari!" she heard coming from the door. She looked up to see Taichi standing there, his left arm wrapped in bandages.

"Taichi!" she said, her eyes widening. Her older brother had been severely beaten and hit his back into a rock. Parts of his body was burnt by fires that did not belong to him. But it wasn't he who really needed treatment. He was carrying someone. A young male that looked as if he was dead. Hikari knew this man very well...

"No!" she said. "NO!"

It was Koushiro...

* * *

Tomoki ran down the street, his very shadow burning with rage. Schakal seemed to appear in every corner, her laughter followed his haunting dreams. Images of his parents' and brother's mangled bodies flashed before him.

"Here I am, little Warrior of Ice!" the voice called from ten spots at the same time.

Curse her.

* * *

Kouichi couldn't think of the last time he had been this worried. Not for himself, but of others. His brother was down by the bay fending of the dark creatures from the water. Takuya in the sky, trying to destroy the flying machines that came to drop explosive charms at them. Tomoki had gone chasing after Schakal and Junpei, who had finally recovered from the incident with Bohemus, helped his tribe to do some serious rocky damage.

"Shadow meteor!"

A skeleton exploded by his attack, but it was far from enough. He was lucky he was already dead or he would have been killed instantly by this surprise attack. Corpses of dead vampires and trolls covered the sand.

"Why? Why must everything go so wrong?"

Why couldn't he be stronger?

* * *

Hikari refused to give up. She refused to let Koushiro die. He was one of her and Taichi's oldest friends, she refused to give up. A magical charm glowed in her hand, which she pressed at his chest. She was the best Healer, why did people have to die? She refused to see her friend die like this!

* * *

Indeed as the first day of War soon passed down to night things looked really bad. The Armies retreated back, to be replaced by the creatures that didn't need the sun to see. It was a full moon so this meant that the werewolves were fighting as well, in their true form.

Takuya watched the scene of destruction. The air around him seemed so cold, it froze, it paralysed. Kouji and the others helped the ones who were too weak to walk. Still some people were missing. It had been reported that Izumi had sneaked out from her mother's wings and now the older Aquila was devastated. Tomoki was gone as well, and no one had seen him since the beginning of everything.

And yet, it was just the beginning. Tomorrow would be a new day of blood and terror.

And yet, he couldn't wait to teach his so called brother one lesson about life.

* * *

It is one of those nights you will always remember. Hikari's cries as she soon realised, that Koushiro was beyond saving Tomoki's growls as he furiously tried to find the one that had brutally slain his family. Izumi's tears as she left her mother and her life.

Nothing would ever be the same again. Dead friends can't be brought back. They pass on to the afterlife, to hopefully find something better.

Schakal sat by a huge bonfire, smiling to herself. "Come at me Warriors of Ice and Wind. Come at me, for I am ready and you shall bend to my dominating will!"

_TBC_

* * *

_Muahahaha... what will happen now? You will have to wait and see! This author feel very evil today._

_Shitza_


	18. The Lost Soul

_HI! Sorry for a long wait! Lack of inspiration and time! WAAAH! Gomen, gomen, gomen!_

_Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! I had hoped to say Happy Easter out loud, but I never had the time to finish this chapter earlier. So it became Happy Easter, a afterwards. _

_Today's chapter is inspired partly by the Film Nightmare Before Christmas... which in my opinion ROCKS! (A/N: This is a very unusual glossary for my part). Okay, maybe the story is partly a bit goofy, but the characters as well as animation of it are cool. It's pretty old, I think I was five when it was released... anyway, if you haven't seen it and want to see a classic then watch it. Especially if you enjoy this fic with weird creatures, skeletons, rag dolls, werewolves, ghosts and humour..._

_Loads of things have happened to me during this long wait. I turned eighteen some days ago, and I have finally got my lazy but out to learn how to drive. _

_Oh, and before you go. For the following weeks until summer there may be a possibility that I will not have any time to update at all. I have all of the hardest exams left, so i am hoping to have at least one more chapter out before summer. I feel awful, but don't blame me for it. Blame the ones who made the exam-schedule._

_OH, and BIG NEWS! I have finally got my lazy ass to display the map of Nemorisa. The map can be found at http / www . deviantart . com / deviation / 32758567 / (excluding the spaces)_

**Chapter 18**

**The Lost Soul**

_Some monsters are created out of evil deeds..._

_Some terrors are born out of hate and rage..._

_Some mistakes are deliberate..._

_Some nightmares never meant to exist..._

_She was all that..._

_The first Schakal was a Poltergeist. Not an evil creature, just someone whose job was to play pranks and create the living hell for the living. From the very first beginning she was not evil, she was like everyone else. A good formless heart, she only did what was in her nature. That until..._

_Something evil spotted her, and made plans for her soul. She never noticed it herself as her soul was slowly destroyed. The very Schakal we know came when she did her first evil deed by killing some of her very own, drinking their powers. _

_And the final form came, as an evil spirit she appeared in the now destroyed, Locked Tower close to the MistHimi lands. That tower held a certain object from the Evil Wars called the Blood Core, a crystal created from all the blood spilled during that war. In her own pain and fury she absorbed its power and thus became the Lady of Terror. _

_For over a hundred years she haunted the dreams of every creature existing and thus so her appearance differs between man and woman her goal is the same. Every man that gaze at her sees the most beautiful woman imaginable and every woman who sees her see what she really is. The worst nightmare of a woman's life..._

_

* * *

_

**Flashback**

_It was a bright summer day, and the snowy fields shimmered like an endless sea of white water. Two boys, one being an accepted soldier and the other a six years old child stood watching the miracle before their eyes._

"_Listen carefully, Tomoki!" his older brother said smiling. This is one of the most memorial places of our lands. You know about the demon wars, well... of many battles one battle was fought here. At this landscape, our ancestors fought. And Chak, the ice Warrior._

_The little tomoki looked up, his eyes sparkling of his proud heart. It was widely known in his country that he and his brother carried the untouched blood of the Warrior of ice, even though it had not been decided yet who had inherited the powers. The stargazers had predicted that one of them had to carry the blood, and the powers. _

_His brother smiled. "Tomoki," he said looking down at his brother ruffling his hair. "one day one of us will have to carry out the mission this blood has given us. And I want you to swear to honour that blood, and let its power guide you through any misery, through any pain and let you see the truth. To let you see the purity of your pure little heart."_

_Tomoki nodded. "Yes niisan (brother), I will!" he said happily, not knowing yet what responsibility he one day would meet._

**End flashback**

It all seemed hopeless... the dark side, with so many complete armies, seemed to gain victory. Indeed, not was a battle fought at the Dragon's home... it affected everyone everywhere.

In the Ghost lands the poltergeists, ghosts and phantoms that did not travel down to battle, darkness crept upon them like a poisonous snake. A ghost is said to be hard to kill, indeed impossible to kill... yet it did not seem real when ghost after ghost fell. For they did not die, they were taken by darkness, never to wake up again...

In the werewolf dessert werewolves and Dark vampires sided with each other to kill their own kind who sided with Demons. Normally did Dark Vampires stay out of light, but with dark umbrellas they can appear in the sun, yet as all vampires already knew. If the umbrella vanished so did the vampire under it.

Yet most of the fighting only came to defend your home and the creatures closest to you. However there were three parts that received some serious damage, and one of them that we all know about. The other two were the Sea were mermaids and other creatures sided to vanquish the poison that threatened their waters and Monster City, which was by now almost completely destroyed by darkness...

However, turning back to the third critical point things went bad as well... Even if dragons were strong creatures they too couldn't fend of everything. In history this will be remembered as the worst catastrophe for all the dragons, ever...

Some did not know exactly what they fought against, from the mass of fighting you could sometimes not distinguish between foe or friend. Their goal was to destroy all Evil once and for all, to save what they could save from a land that had through thousands of years been poisoning itself to destruction and hopefully cleanse it from that danger.

However there were two creatures this day that really did know what they fought for... revenge of someone they had lost, long ago...

* * *

_(A/N: This part is written with a lot of supernatural feelings, so if you suddenly start to think I've gone mad... uhm, I guess I may be close to become so. It is truly rare for me to write supernatural things when there are few gods/spirits in the chapter)_

Blood, blood was all little Tomoki could see before his eyes. Even though his young age, he could see the blood so clearly... the blood of his family and of his brother...

Tears, tears were what Izumi had in her eyes as she hurried to get to her foe of Death and Life...

Indeed as the two of them approached their foe the colours around them swirled and the reality seemed upside down. Neither of them had ever tried to hurt anyone else out of pure will. Sure Tomoki suspected them all when they turned up in his country, but he didn't kill them. He didn't try to kill them. He would never in his life turn into something like Schakal.

Izumi was the first to arrive and took out the longbow Kouji had given to her on her birthday. The tears still trickled down her cheek, her very thought lost in memories. Tsukiko...

"What's the matter blondie?" Schakal said seeing how broken her opponent already seemed to be. "Has the cat got your tongue?"

Izumi wiped out the tears that shrouded her vision and prepared to shoot. She was smiling back, a mysterious smile. It seemed to have a slight effect on Schakal, who wondered what was going on?

The bow sang as the arrow left and aimed at it's target the wind sizzled around it. Schakal's bewildered expression turned to a smile as she slowly ducked it. A red aura formed around the evil creature and Izumi's eyes widened as the transformation, as all females could see it, began. Two large goat-horns, a forked tail and a snake like body that showed woman-features and yet looked more like a dragon. Green slime oozed from her mouth, dripping to the ground. Long claws appeared together with scales that covered the entire body.

Izumi shielded her eyes as the hideous creature before her started to shriek of joy. Right then, Tomoki caught up to shield his eyes as well, but from other things. The illusion all males saw. An illusion of immortal beauty.

"Tomoki!" Izumi said, but it came too late. As she dropped her guard the huge clawed hands caught her by the waist.

"Tomoki!"

Tomoki however didn't move, he was paralysed. Somewhere inside of him, a voice of reason told him to move, to avenge this thing that had killed everyone that loved and protected him.

Izumi wanted to make her friend wake up, but Schakal covered her mouth with her hands. The Aquila's vision darkened and to her fears she realised that her hands, as really the rest of Schakal's foul body gave out a poisonous smell. It was that smell that would slowly take her life.

As the furious and panicking Aquila struggled to set free, Tomoki was lost in memories of his childhood. It was a burning memory... of something he made a promise to.

"_One day one of us will have to carry out the mission this blood has given us. And I want you to swear to honour that blood, and let its power guide you through any misery, through any pain and let you see the truth. To let you see the purity of your pure little heart."_

Something within his heart woke. It was not like a beast-instinct like Junpei's. It wasn't a flame like Takuya. It was something else... a deep knowledge of how this world would appear if they lost. He could see the darkness, and it frightened him.

He shrieked scared of his own shadow. He could see his family die, even though he hadn't been there to witness it himself. He could see stars falling, and dying. And he could see, in his young confused mind... a boy, only a few years older them himself, clad in a white tunic with the same hair, the same lines on the face and not to mention the symbol of Sit Nalta. He had white pants, and a slim sword hanging in his belt. A cap made of white fur, the same kind of fur they used for the Iceman illusions.

Tomoki's eyes widened. He was standing opposite of this guy, staring at his very ancestor. Somehow he knew this had to be Chak, the boy that went to war with nine companions protecting the peace of Nemorisa.

"Ch-Ch-Chak..."

The older boy opposite of him smiled. Tomoki didn't know how he should translate that. Was he dead, had Schakal killed him? What about his revenge? Was Izumi alright?

"It's not too late to light up the darkness. Even though Schakal has done much to deserve hell, heaven has asked you warriors to turn her back to her original form. To cleanse her from the darkness that has taken hold of her light. Tomoki, you are the last born with my pureheart, a heart that can never be corrupted by datkness. See through her illusions, activate that powers hidden within your blood. Save her from dying in darkness."

Tomoki opened his eyes to, like Izumi, see the most hideous creature ever born. However, looking more closely he could see as well that it was nothing more that an illusion. Deep inside he could see the outline of the former Schakal.

He wasn't sure what chak had asked him of, to save this creature by his pure heart. To activate the hidden powers of ice. It all seemed like nonsense as he had no idea how to do it.

But he didn't have time to think. Izumi, as he could see, was in a clear danger.

The Aquila had feinted, the poison seeped through her body destroying her from inside. She was sweating badly, and her breath came in short gasps. Without thinking straight, only knowing he had to defend the person who was the closest to sister he had ever had, the magic dwelling deep within his body suddenly burst out. A mass of swirling colours suddenly shot from his body. Schakal, out of both shock and fright let go of Izumi, who opened her eyes. As the body stopped flowing into her, the beryl around her neck started to glow. It healed her, reawakening her.

It was as if the time had said it all... as the two warriors looked at each other they could both see the image of someone else in the other. Truly, Izumi saw Chak and beside Izumi was Zephyr. Izumi's wings glowed purple as the two Warriors took each others hands as in a prayer. Around them the combined power of ice and wind erupted, forming into a powerful source that obviously Schakal couldn't come near.

The power moved closer and closer to Schakal until it hit her, full power. The creature shrieked as layer of layer of her powers were taken from here. All layers were returned to either their original spot, or to something in deep use.

As the great mass of magic power settled both Tomoki and Izumi fainted out of exhaustion. However, before Tomoki's eyes closed he could see the outline of a plasmic creature. A female poltergeist who smiled back. She had light brown hair, clad in a green dress. The beautiful, the real beauty that he would soon be able to describe her with was her turquoise eyes.

"Thank you!" she said before she closed her eyes, dying.

Tomoki smiled back, and his smile remained as sleep finally won over the two warriors. Around them the battle would continue, but they would be happily unknowing about it for a while. As it became, light had won again.

Meanwhile Kouichi had a bad run in with another of their foe, and truly the ghost did not like this thing. Trix was yet another of the Horrors, but the ghost saw nothing but red looking at him.

Around them, darkness came closer. In another dimension the 13 Royal Knights bent their heads. Being trapped in such a world, they could do no more than to watch, so was the will of darkness that made these horrors happen.

Takuya gazed up at the sky, as the moon lit above them illuming the night. The Warrior of fire sighed, sitting on a rock looking at his sword. The pale moonlight showed only his sad face, his bright wings and his blue eyes determined to do whatever that needed to be done, even though it would probably brake his heart forever.

_TBC_

**WAH, like i said there will be few updates for the next weeks. All school exams, assignments, homework, National tests and such will be finished first after the start of June. Until then, hope everyone will have patience with me. **

**Love you all, readers and reviewers**

**Please review and keep my mood up. With over 20 exams and loads more work I can feel quite depressed sometimes!**

**Shitza**


	19. Two Shadows Moving

_HI, gomen ne? Late again... can't help it. I warned you this would happen. _

_Really, school has been EXHAUSTING! Honestly, we are only humans not machines. (dies in front of the screen)._

_But (whew) it is over, finally! Really, truly, my last exam and my last serious days... my last days locked up in those rooms. YAY!_

_Oh, and there is a second reason for being late. If you haven't noticed yet, I've made a new story, from the anime series Naruto... yaoi again... really, first it became Takouji, then Taito, then Daiken, then Jenkato and now in Naruto as well... Sasunaru... I am poisoned!YAOI poisoned!_

_Shitza_

_Ps: To fellow authors. If you want a good and decent chapter made, don't follow this example and write in the middle of the night. _

**Chapter 19**

**Two Shadows Moving**

_Truly many creatures are created, sometimes out of blood but also mistakes. In Nemorisa there is a tale of these mistakes. In old times magical beings tried to reincarnate themselves through different spells and enchantments. However as it was yet too early even for magic to evolve into such glory, the attempts failed and all that became was a mass of magical substance that indeed looked like the creature it's purpose was to copy, yet it had a mind of its own. Due to this,it was mainly destroyed after failure to failure but a few times the substance managed to escape. _

_Afterwards, no one has found the true answers yet, people believed it muted and tried to catch the appearance of other things it saw. Like a child who saw the world as something glorious, it took in large quantities of information and worked it to form into a copy of it. However in its prehistoric form it could never copy minds. _

_As soon no one, except for themselves, knew what their true forms now was they were called Shapeshifters. Creature who could take the appearance of anything it saw. For many years different creatures came to befriend them in order to use their powers upon spying on others. _

_As you may know by now, Takato is a Shapeshifter and a pretty skilled one as he is able to change into more than 500 different forms a day. Even though it may sound weird, changing requires loads of energy and nutrition. Normally a Shapeshifter uses around 150 forms a day, which is enough to avoid predators and old enemies. _

_But the main character of this LONG introduction is someone completely other known as The Figure. His name is Trix, and this is his story..._

_Trix was born around 600 years ago into a blooming society of romance and a development of new methods in war. By his time, Shapeshifters like himself were seen as High standardized creatures so it is not surprising that he was, by the age of 10, sent to help the Governor of an extinct creature known as Faith, a human-like female specie that had the power to lure you into the bogs. Her natural enemy was none other than the Siren who envied her beauty. Trix lived with one of the elder Faiths, helping her to do easy missions, mainly spying on neighbours and such. _

_In his early days life was good for him, his Mistress treated him well. But by the age of 14 his life took a turn when on his way home he saw the mansion (where the mistress lived) in flames. He ran over only to witness the murder of his Mistress. Other Faiths arrives to find him standing above her dead body and thought that HE had done it. _

_After that everything went so wrong for him. Words spread quickly from Anitchiga, the nowadays disappeared town that the Faiths lived in. No matter where he went people gave him the same look, the same loathing and the same cold eyes. Those cold eyes can easily drive you mad!_

_And this wasn't an exception..._

_as the society treated him like dirt, he treated the society like dirt himself. He began stealing, and took whatever he could get his hands on. He became the scum, and was hated wherever he came. It would have been OK if it all stopped there, but..._

_

* * *

_

It wasn't as if Kouichi used to have bad thoughts normally, nor did he hate people without reason. Even though he surpassed many of his own kind in power, he was still deep inside the quiet shadow of his brother. A happy shadow, cause he didn't want power or strength to show off anymore. It was enough of that when he was younger, and stupid. But as the years had passed, his experience had taught him the best way to stand by his friends, and that was what really mattered.

Yet at the very mentioning of Trix, or any other Forbidden Name, his blood froze. Why, because all his life these names had constantly been chasing him? And why chase someone who was dead? The answer came simple enough... darkness...

Even in Nemorisa, finding someone who possesses darkness and befriends light, those things are rare. Even the creatures who don't fight light cannot completely befriend the opposite, because they are opposites.

So, it is understandable Kouichi was a bonus for whoever that would be able to possess him. Unfortunately though, he was now a ghost, in other words it was harder to drain them. And harder to capture him as well...

But it did not stop Trix and his companions from trying...

And this time, he refused to be the one chased, and had started a hunt for Him instead.

It was time to settle things up...

* * *

Trix was busy draining the immortal secrets out of the elves dead forms when Kouichi found him. The Shapeshifter had taken a vampires form for this mission and didn't notice the ghost at first. However, as soon as he did, about two seconds before Kouichi's attack would hit him, he withdrew and quickly changed form again... to his his favourite, snake-demon.

Kouichi gritted his teeth. If he would have been alive, blood would probably have tricked down his chin as he bit his lips without knowing it. It wasn't as if he could feel these things any longer. Trix was hissing on a dark spell which he soon would aim at the ghost, and Kouichi knew very well that the Shapeshifter before him, whom he did not consider as such a creature, knew more then enough how to finish him off. Ghosts had met their fates like this before him...

A purple light shot towards him. Kouichi escaped into the ground, knowing very well that the dirt above him would filtrate the light from touching him. Above, Trix was looking around for the ghost, wondering from which angle he would attack. If only he knew how long this had been planned... A secret agreement brothers between, settled years and years back. About the time after Kouichi had returned.

* * *

_Two creatures, looking like they were none older then teens, sat together by a fireplace in the Huge castle of their parents. Oli, one of their servants, had brought wine and fruit for them, but it wasn't the food that occupied their brains, no... It was the thoughts about revenge._

"_Damn that Umbra! If I ever get my hands on her, I will surely..." Kouichi started rubbing his neck. It wasn't as if the feeling of being burnt would leave him so fast._

"_Leave her to me, oniisan." Kouji said. "After all, she was the one who killed my big brother, and no one does that to you while I am still breathing."_

_Kouji looked truly ready to kill. Kouichi considered this for a moment, after all of the two of them, Kouji was physically stronger. Kouichi was better on using his dark powers, while his younger twin brother had been trained in swords-fighting and combat. _

"_Okay, Kouji. But if you are going to fight Umbra for me, let me fight Trix if that ever happens."_

_Kouji looked puzzled. "Why Trix?"_

_Kouichi smiled, a rather sadistic smile which looked strange upon his usually friendly face. "Because from what I've heard, if you hadn't tried to chase after Umbra, Trix would have killed you as well. And brother, never in my pale life will I let that happen. One of us has to live you know, we can't both become ghosts."_

_

* * *

_

And that was the dark secret to his thirst for blood. Trix had probably forgotten about his words, but Kouichi surely hadn't. He loved his brother, he would die again if anything happened to him. And it wasn't possessiveness that drove him to this. It was the bond that had been created ever since they were born.

The bond of twins.

"Ebony Blast!" he shouted, dark purple shadows shooting from his hand. Trix grinned. The fire went through the ground, creating holes from beneath... fired upwards to hit him. Yet the Shapeshifter merely changed form, into a shadow and then back. The attacks went right through. Beneath Kouichi growled.

"Come up, you freaky little ghost. Your powers are no match against mine!" Trix said.

Kouichi soared upwards. Back above the ground. In his hands two balls of dark energy sparkled, like the sky at night.

Trix, not fearing the next attack stepped forward, face to face with the ghost. "I am going to turn you into nothing, I am going to eat your soul and destroy this shadow form you wear." Trix said grinning evilly. But Kouichi did not hear him. No, the ghost had his eyes closed and inside a new light took place. The ancient and feared powers, of none other than Lowe himself.

"Kuroikazuchi!" (Black thunder)

Trix's eyes widened as the dark powers passed through his body, destroying everything he was. But outside there was no changes, yet inside his whole body went into a rampage. Doors that had been wide opened before suddenly closed and to his horror he came to realise, his powers were gone.

The snake-demon body he had been using disappeared, to be replaced with a normal man's, with red eyes and black hair. The eyes were wide with shock as he stepped backwards and stared at his hands. He tried to change, but nothing happened.

His powers were destroyed.

Kouichi couldn't believe his own eyes as he watched the last of Trix's actions, ever. The ex-Shapeshifter screamed and ran. He didn't look where he ran, didn't care. And before he knew it, an arrow whistled from somewhere, no one knew where, and Trix fell, dead...

Kouichi darkened at the very thought about his actions, but then sighed. After all, he had promised this long ago. Now, his brother would stay safe, away from his own fate of dying.

The ghost looked up, at the sky which was darkening as well...

His thoughts wandered back to everyone else. Junpei, Izumi, Tomoki, Takuya and his brother Kouji. He hoped that everyone was okay.

* * *

It was a miracle, as everyone realised that the dark forces were retreating. With the ships at the sea, rounding up the last sea creatures, the Aquilas taking hold of the sky and the rest of them clearing out the beaches. It was like a dream...

But, as the darkness retreated Takuya and Kouji couldn't help but to wonder, was this really all there was to it? No, they doubted so.

So, while everyone later that evening were cheering of victory, the two of them decided to take matters in their own hands. Of the terrors four had been killed, but two remained. The last terror Umbra, whom Kouji had promised to kill for the sake of his brother's death... and Shinya, Takuya's brother, whom he needed to know as well, if the real Shinya was still alive deep inside of that terrorised mind.

_TBC_

_Shitza: Gomen nasai, this chapter is short, quick and bad... but honestly, I was out of ideas and half of it was written in the middle of the night. So, I decided to make a new turn, including the Royal Knights and some things earlier then my first thought. _

_You know, i hate when I change my mind... and I hope you guys will not hate me for making things confusing. I have actually caught a cold (I don't know how) and it's been messing around with my mind._


	20. Victory, No?

_I am sorry it took ages to update. Truth to be told I had a temporary writer's block that annoyed me to headaches. _

_Anyway..._

_One word..._

_SUMMER!_

_Yeah, this authors has finally been released from the horrible amount of homework, exams and assignments for 75 whole days! And frankly she has promised herself not to count days until she starts again. _

_So, for her readers (the few that have time to read now) she says: This story will be finished before her holiday ends. _

_Shitza_

_Ps: There has been no real prophecies in this story, and I love prophecies so, a real one has finally been written down, all though there are very few chapters left in this story..._

**Chapter 20**

**Victory, No?**

**(Taken from the Seers Books)**

_Deep hidden in legend, the ancient tale of the vampire tells another tale about the Ultimate Darkness, the darkest will upon Earth, and it is the will to clear away all living from the planet. Whom are we telling about? Of course, the one we rarely mention in name..._

_**Umbra**..._

_It is not that we fear her darkness, or her strength. We fear what she is, her soul and her will. Her... determination. As we just sit down to write this warning, the ink freezes before our eyes. Her will stretches far away..._

_Her tale is shrouded in mystery, and no one is certain how she became as she was, she, like all other creatures, wasn't like this from birth. Everyone could confirm that..._

_No one knows for sure how she became evil, and why she acts like she does. Of all killers she is the queen, waiting for the king. Even though the king will never be able to court her, she will follow his will. And become his most obedient soldier._

_Yet before she does, she will spread terror around our world, no one will be able to stop her._

_Unless..._

_Thunder will crack the highest mountain,  
__Wind and Ice combine as one,  
__Darkness awaken from our ancient writings,  
__And the souls of fire, leave as gone..._

_Ice and cold the Darkness struggles  
__Against the tides that overcome  
__Light so pure fight the juggles  
__That crash down from the sky._

_Fire lastly be the outcome  
__To victory for good or bad  
__And so thus we wait for some  
__Hero who doesn't belong to this world._

_

* * *

_

"Tell me again, whose idea was it to take the short cut?" Kouji asked with a growl, his hand clenching tightly to the branch.

Takuya sighed, not daring to look down. "I said I miscalculated this, just give me another minute and..."

Kouji sighed as well. "And what?"

The vampire looked up at the flying skeletons above them. It had been three weeks since they left everyone else behind.

"This is ridiculous!" the vampire said as his fangs and nails grew longer, wings grew from his back.

Takuya followed his example, spread his wings as well and flew upwards from the ravine the two of them had fallen into. Sometimes the ex-human forgot he really had wings on his back. Something you could find hard since well, they were there.

The two flew upwards, fending of the skeletons by some simple magic tricks. Even though Takuya wasn't dragon enough to change form, he knew how to spit fire. And well, that wasn't just something.

The skeletons hurried away, with fire chasing after them. Takuya cheered and Kouji simply smiled. During these weeks that has passed, Takuya's powers had grown incredibly from being the amateur to being the expert. As if that wasn't enough, he started to grow some habits that Dragon's loved. As much as shared with vampires.

Bites.

Needless to say, with the memories of the following days they had spent, Kouji probably would remember the endless amount of bites and nipping they had been, well... occupied with. Even though they were in a hurry, even though they had a mission to succeed, their not-so lonely nights turned out to be quite romantic. Takuya normally argued with the famous phrase: "Why wouldn't they be able to combine business with pleasure?

Their journey continued from a large amount of walking (they didn't fly unless they REALLY needed) to one day when they reached below the mountains, to Dead Species Dale. This nowadays green lands had been the legendary battleground, and until just recently the flowers had started to bloom again.

The two of them however had no time to watch this miracle, because above the clouds turned darker and darker. It went as bad as it could become, when they found out that this wasn't just clouds. In the middle of the Dale, four days of flying since the understood they were in a great hurry, they found a crack that lead downwards to a hidden chamber. And down there...

"We've found it!" Takuya gasped looking down. Great lanterns with red flames where lit, yet the walls looked dark blue, and where the light hit it turned from red, to purple, to indigo and lastly the same blue upon the walls. The ground was covered in a eerie mist that swirled around the creatures below them. They could see the darkest of all creatures, of different species. Black Dragons that had their eyes scarred, skeletons with wings and horns, ice unicorns that looked beautiful, but at the very touch would mean instant death. Sure enough, dark creatures lived upon the lands of Nemorisa, but there were a few unknown species that had been locked down with the demons themselves.

In the middle of the chamber they could gaze down upon, they saw a gigantic throne with around twenty steps to walk up to. There, Shinya sat dressed in his usual clothes, smirking. Umbra sat below the throne, looking oddly proud of herself.

"It's done, my Lord. The barriers protecting that valley have been even more damaged then our last attempt. In a few days, we will be able to crush the dragons. We don't even need their help, worthless scums being beaten by those Good-For-Nothing losers. Just you wait, my Lord. I will have your brother's head on a platter for you."

Luckily the black smokes emitting from the crack in the roof hid both Takuya and Kouji from their sights, or they would have been dead by now. Even though the two down there spoke of Takuya's death the dragon didn't seem as pale as he normally would hearing such. His face more shined of determination to finish this once and for all.

"You or me?" Takuya asked.

Kouji nodded, took two of his fingers into his mouth and whistled.

Let the chase begin.

* * *

Tomoki was brought back, unconscious but unhurt mostly. Kouichi was reviving from a huge shock, but the ghost seemed as if he would be his usual cheerful self soon.

Izumi had some serious poisonous wounds, but they had been treatable. However, they medics had to treat her for hours before she was left alone to rest. The victory over a total of Four of the Horrors shook the whole World and the three of them were treated as heroes. Like they were, they had just done their destined job.

And all of them knew what awaited them now.

And it didn't grow any better when Kouichi reported that his brother and Takuya had escaped from the Valley, to chase after the remains alone.

It more like grew to a disastrous chaos.

The leaders of the different creatures summoned, like Taichi, Yamato, Takato and so on were devastated to learn about the escape since all of them, out of experience knew how long normal wars lasted here. (From 1 year too forever), and they were expecting a second blow. Izumi, after her recovery, bit her nails spending all nights trying to solve the political problems. Tomoki had gone down to talk to the average people, and Junpei kept to the loners who had decided to take a deal or too. Kouichi spoke with ghosts, they never listened to living people anyway.

However, it seemed no matter how much they tried to tell people to calm down and stay strategic, nothing seemed to work. They mostly received a "yes" but then, people or creatures didn't seem to follow the things they said. One "yes" and then they continued rambling about how the sky would fall down over them. Tiring and a waste of time.

As the days passed the four remaining warriors tried to find a way to bring both of them back, with little luck. Sure enough, if Kouichi would have tried harder, he could be able to locate an extreme light thanks to an elven invention that looked like two sticks. But of all the warriors, Kouichi, happened to be the one who didn't put his soul into this. Mainly cause he knew Kouji better then the others, and Takuya as well.

In the end they all gave up, and that is what destiny waited for. Some solutions cannot be solved by seeking for them, they come to you.

And this solution came through a message written by a highly posted person, a Lord above Lords and a power that once could have been able to take over Nemorisa three times over, if he had wanted.

Alpha...

So it happened that the Four Warriors found themselves with what many creatures dreamed of. An entrance to the Dimension which the 13 Royal Knights stayed in. For a meeting like this, they all (except for Kouichi) had decided to dress up formally. Izumi had taken her finest light blue silk dress, with a silver belt and matching jewellery. Tomoki had taken white pants and shirt, with soft white fur laced to the brims, and a cloak which was made of the same fur they normally used for their Yeti transformations. Junpei was dressed in what shockingly looked like a suit of stone, yet looking closer you could see it was really made of mixed sand from gold and silver, striped to resemble the immense lightning that everyone knew came from his hands.

And as mentioned before, Kouichi hadn't, (couldn't) dress up for this, so he came with his usual attire. Then again, few ghosts where expected to arrive in their bests because few died in their best clothes.

The Entrance was two huge oak doors, filled with magical symbols to keep things inside. This didn't however affect the visitors, but very much the creatures trapped there. Izumi was shaking nervously and Junpei fidgeted with a headband he wore. Kouichi stayed cool, however his eyes travelled around and Tomoki was as quiet as you could be.

They came to a hall with thirteen portraits, one for each Knight. Two of them seemed gigantic resembling Alpha in black armour and Omni in white armour. These two were the highest ranked Knights and had a spiritual connection back to Nemorisa, which allowed them to send messages and invitations, mostly when something bad was about to happen.

And nervously, it was them the Four Warriors waited for...

and waited...

and waited...

and waited...

still waiting...

waiting...

would they come?

Waiting...

waiting...

hopelessness...

waiting...

anxiety...

still waiting...

No one!

The Four warriors stood by the doorway, not daring to take one more step. But the longer they waited the more their anxiety and nervousness grew to annoyance. It was growing dark, the roof had small small windows that could show them sunlight, and that light was fading.

"Where the hell are they?" Izumi said out-loud slowly getting really angry. Junpei was biting on his finger nails and Tomoki was dozing of. Kouichi had left his spot and went to look at the chairs that stood in the room, thirteen of them. "Whom do they think they are, letting the princess of Aquilas wait for this long! They better show their dirty faces soon or...

And yet, that wasn't something she should have said, because seconds later the floor was filled with smoke, and the sound of armour walking and swords being drawn.

A warrior clad in a white armour, with a long black cloak walked towards them.

"I would shut up, if I were you, young lady. Older and wiser royalties then you have waited for days to see us, and never uttered a word to insult us. After all, we are the Royal Nights!"

_TBC_

_Sorry for a long wait, hope you enjoyed! Please review, it lightens so much!_


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